Knicks Suspend Stephon Marbury

The Knicks may finally be on their way to cutting their ties with Stephon Marbury. The team has suspended their $21 million dollar man for one game without pay, for his refusal to play in the Knicks' game in Detroit this past Wednesday. As far as Knicks' GM Donnie Walsh is concerned, the suspension is completely justified:

"A player's central obligation is to provide his professional services when called upon. Because he refused the coach's request to play in the team's last game, we had no choice but to impose disciplinary action."

Predictably, Starbury doesn't think that it went down like that, and says he never refused a direct request from Mike D'Antoni to play:

"If you say I got to play, I'm going to play. If he said I have to play, guess what, I'm going to get on the court and play, period. If I refuse to play, I'm getting suspended. I never told him I'm not going to play. Those words never came out of my mouth. That's insubordination."

The suspension will cost Marbury roughly $400,000, so it's not surprising that he's not going to go along with it quietly. As Brinson recently noted, the trust issues are competely gone between player and coach, and Marbury isn't exactly a beloved teammate at this point either. So if I'm the Knicks, I do whatever I can to get this guy off the team and just cut my losses. Given the very public and messy situation, at this point, there really isn't any other choice.

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

11-28-2008 @ 3:18PM

Coach Rivera said...

Hey all,
Sorry I sound the way I do, but he's a recyle used tampon ready to come out of the Closet....We the Public pay to see these guys play, we need to gang up and hire a lawyer and get our money back..this wanabe stud is a Lab Test baby went wrong /cross between Mad Dog and Sheep or Billy Goat, who gives a chit,,If let these guys do what they want, they will all start doing it...We the ones that really go out of our way to go to these games that some of us can't affod at times...are be held up by this Coney Island Mad Dog....Take him to Court and give his Millions to a real cause not a dead beat,,,,Thank you all....
Coach

11-28-2008 @ 4:23PM

George said...

Coach you are SCARY right!!!!

11-28-2008 @ 4:21PM

The NBA/KNICKS is at it's LOWEST now...It's not about who is right or wrong here. The EMPLOYEE was told to perform is JOB/WORK/duty, he does not--(((but he did show up at his workplace))). PLEASE try that at your place of EMPLOYMENT today or anyday. The Knicks COACH is QUICKLY becoming a JOKE in the SPORTS world these days. I am not taking either side here, but I cannot BELIEVE that what the COACH is saying is the whole ((TRUTH))!!!!...Marbury is angry, but he can't be that angry. If I were is AGENT/ADVISORS I wud tell Marbury to PLAY is way off the TEAM...It is that SIMPLE!!!...He says he is that good and in great SHAPE, do the damn thing and move on with your CAREER. You R not 21-28 yrs old Marbury, U R 32 which is old in the NBA ((in most cases))). You need to prove to other TEAMS that U still have 2-3 years left in your body. The KNICKS (((WOW)))--where is Clyde/Ewing/Dave/Bradley when you need them (((UNBELIEVABLE)))!!!!

11-29-2008 @ 4:51PM

KJH said...

Aren't there salary cap benefits to the Knicks retaining Marbury on the roster the entire year? I'm no expert capologist, but it was my understanding that there are significant dollar benefits to retaining an expiring contract. Can anyone clarify?