Marbury's Fued with New York

[DC4]

If Stephon Marbury elects to seek the National Basketball Players Association's help to end his roster quagmire with the Knicks, the union's chief said he's ready.

Stephon Marbury

Marbury

"We may be engaging the team in trying to see if there's some kind of mutually beneficial position that the parties can arrive at," Billy Hunter, the executive director of the NBPA, told Bloomberg News. "Maybe there's somebody willing to trade for him. Maybe you can do a buyout. It depends on the parties."

Marbury has been on the inactive list for each of the Knicks' first three games. Marbury is so far out of the team's plans that coach Mike D'Antoni tabbed Jerome James instead of Marbury to replace the injured Eddy Curry on the active list against Milwaukee, even though the 7-foot-1, 285-pound James played in just two games last season and would seem a horrible fit for an up-tempo system.

Knicks president Donnie Walsh met with Marbury on Monday, but there was no resolution to the point guard's stalemate with the team, and Walsh wouldn't put a timetable on a solution.

Walsh said he wants to find out coach Mike D'Antoni's reasoning for keeping Marbury inactive before making a decision.

"I want to understand why and I want our coach to … If he's got a valid reason, that's one thing," Walsh told reporters. "If not, that's what we are talking about."

Hunter said that the union can't influence the team on whether to put Marbury on the active roster.

"When it comes to whether a coach is inclined to play him, that's a different issue," Hunter told Bloomberg News. "That's a sacrosanct area in the relationship that we're not free to invade."

Walsh, though, said he believes that Marbury can play in D'Antoni's up-tempo offense.

"I think he can play in this style," Walsh said, according to The New York Times. "I think that what Mike is trying to do is play younger guys, but on the way to that I think Stephon can be helpful. That's what I've got to find out."

Marbury is in the final year of a contract that will pay him more than $21 million this season, and the Knicks surely won't re-sign him.

That salary, plus his history of clashing with coaches, makes Marbury difficult to trade. He's already made it clear he won't take a buyout for less than his full salary, so Walsh acknowledged there "aren't a lot of options out there" for getting rid of Marbury.

Hunter told Bloomberg News that Marbury isn't willing to accept a buyout for less than what he's owed by the Knicks.

"He isn't inclined to accept 80 cents on the dollar," Hunter said. "Our principal role is to make sure he gets paid."

LINK

 

[DC4]

Just, Waive the man, This is to much negative, <Censored> going around in the Locker room.

 

[DC4]

NEW YORK -- One of two things happened Sunday night at Madison Square Garden:

• The Stephon Marbury limbo situation became such a distraction, it sucked the life out of the Knicks in just their third game of the season.

• The Marbury mess was not a factor at all, and the Knicks simply established themselves as a lifeless, bad team in game No. 3 of their '08-09 campaign.

Looks like Larry Brown will recognize the place even more than he would have imagined when he makes his return to the Garden with the Charlotte Bobcats on Wednesday night. The franchise he left two years ago is looking every bit as dysfunctional and de-energized as it has been for most of this decade.

"We got down 12 points, and literally we weren't doing anything," coach Mike D'Antoni said after a particularly morose 94-86 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks on Sunday.

We'll give D'Antoni a pass on his misuse of the word "literally," excusing it as a momentary lapse into mindless hyperbole that was bound to manifest itself after five full weeks of D'Antoni trying to focus his attention on the 12 guys in uniform instead of the player with the new head tattoo whose No. 3 Knicks jersey may never be worn again.

The point of what D'Antoni was saying was valid, but there was no reasonable explanation as to why New York got so little from Jamal Crawford (one point, 0-for-6 shooting) and David Lee (three points, two rebounds). The seven seconds or less offense was a no-show, and the Knicks were content to chuck away from the 3-point line late in the shot clock. New York scored only four fast-break points and attempted 36 3-pointers in a 94-86 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks.

The matter of Marbury's uncertain future with the franchise continued to hang over the Knicks. He was deactivated for a second straight game, and team president Donnie Walsh said he planned to have a sit-down with Marbury and D'Antoni in the next day or two to discuss the best way to proceed forward.

Asked by ESPN.com if waiving Marbury was an option, Walsh replied: "I don't know yet. We'll see."

That is a departure from the tune Walsh was singing at the start of training camp, when he said he was philosophically opposed to the notion of a buyout (which would precede placing Marbury on waivers) and had never done one in nearly three decades as an NBA executive.

For his part, Marbury again refused to stir the pot.

"Whatever they think is best for me, that's what I'm going to go with," he said. "I'm patient. I'm patient. I'm going to stay still."

Marbury has been steadfast in his statements that he would not accept a reduction in his salary through a buyout, and he used his favorite non-answer -- "Next question" -- when he was asked whether he'd accept 99 percent of his salary to walk away.

"I signed the contract, and in the contract it says this is how much money I'm going to make this year," he said.

D'Antoni has handed the playmaking duties to Chris Duhon, who managed only six points and three assists in 37 minutes against the Bucks, dropping his three-game averages to 6.3 points and 4.1 assists on 30 percent shooting. Duhon's backup, Mardy Collins, went 0-for-3 in 6½ minutes.

At some point, the question should be asked whether the Knicks would be a better team with Marbury running the show. But the Knicks clearly seem to have moved beyond that point by now, and prudence would dictate that they move toward a resolution of Marbury's status in the next several days. Either way, Sunday's game showed that Marbury or no Marbury, sideshow or no sideshow, the Knicks can still be mind-bogglingly bad on any given night.

D'Antoni has argued that it would not be fair to Marbury, given his stature as a former All-Star and Olympian, to be given spot duty as a backup to Duhon.

Still, the argument can be made that it is not fair to Knicks fans to have to endure the pedestrian play of Duhon and Collins when a better option is sitting behind the bench in street clothes. It's an untenable situation for everyone involved, which is why Marbury's limbo status figures to be resolved sooner rather than later. Clearly, the Knicks can't afford to have him and his status lurking over their shoulders for another 79 games.

 

[.s31t]

I am so fed up with Stephon Marbury $hit.
He has done everything this season to stay on the team.
Said he would come off the bench and got in better shape.
Hasn't down talked D'Antoni at all.
I mean D'Antoni hates Steph and it has started in PHO...
Fo' Real.

 

[-Torres-]

cosign...

D'Antoni is on some BS. Marbury did everything he could this time around. He got in shape. He said he would come off the bench. He would be the best PG on the Knicks roster for this system and I believe he's the best player on the Knick's team. D'Antoni is being stupid. He would help their team.

 

[dez]

The last thing we need is a disagreement b/t Walsh and D'Antoni.

I thought they were on the same page about the Marbury problem, but its obvious they arent. Idk what grudge D'Antoni has against Marbury, and its been that way since D'Anonti first arrived in Phoenix.

 

[elcheato]

I wish I was Marbury.. He gets paid 20 million dollars to sit court side and watch 82 basketball games.