It's safe to say that the Stephon Marbury situation has become somewhat of a mess for the Knicks. After things came to a head with Marbury's alleged refusal to play and subsequent suspension, Donnie Walsh has finally decided to step in and try to resolve things with Marbury's representative on Monday. According to ESPN's Chris Sheridan, Walsh expects to present several scenarios to Marbury and his representatives, and then proceed from there. Sheridan also gives us this little nugget that makes me wonder if Knicks' coach Mike D'Antoni blew this all by his lonesome:
It appears Walsh did not understand or was not adequately told the degree of mutual disdain that remained between D'Antoni and Marbury from their brief time together in Phoenix, and Walsh said he was unaware on opening night that D'Antoni did not plan to put Marbury into the game.I've said this several times before, but it seems like Mike D'Antoni and Donnie Walsh were not on the same page with this thing from the jump. With Marbury coming into camp in shape and ready to play, Walsh seemed to want to give the Marbury situation a try. On the other hand, it seems like D'Antoni made the decision to sit Marbury, despite his good showing during the pre-season and his positive attitude coming into the thing. D'Antoni might have had his reasons for wanting to do this, but if he did, he should have tried to express this to Donnie Walsh so that Walsh could have gotten Marbuy bought out before the beginning of the season.
"I think everyone came in with good intentions, and it hasn't worked out. So we have to acknowledge that and talk about it," Walsh said.
Walsh is an old pro. There is no way he would just let this Marbury situation go down like this if he knew D'Antoni's intentions. Especially when you consider that Walsh was brought in to change the toxic environment around Knicks. The last thing Donnie Walsh wanted was to create some drama that's played out across the pages of the New York Post and the rest of the New York tabloids. Hopefully once this thing is resolved we'll get more information on what really happened.
Comments (Page 1 of 1)
dantoni hasn't been honest since he got here and no one calling him out for not putting the best players on the court and for drafting damage goods lets be fair at least thomas drated a good player but was dogged by the media every spep of the way if they were going to trade player why was marbury playing dantoni put his self above the team and now trying to put that tag on marbury as a fan paiding to see the team play marbury so of been traded or playing
the truth < intelligent
Marbury wants his cash...that he earned...somewhere. If he wants to be paid, he has to do his job that he contractually agreed to do; whenever called upon and under whatever situation asked. Period. That's why they are called contracts. He should not have bailed on his teammates and made them play extra minutes. Simple. He is going to be worthless to any team that signs him if he is bought out. Maybe not this year, but I guarantee that he will cause some sort of fuss before next season and be a pariah again. Just my dos centavos.
Nate, if Donnie did not know about Starbury situation in Phoenix he had his head stuck in the sand. When Colangelo owned the team every exec knew what happened if a player did not live up to the standards of a good citizen, they got traded. Remember Cliff Robinson, Jason Kidd etc.??
Watching this situation play out live and direct in New York, this seems like an example of further Knicks mismanagement. Don't get me wrong, D'Antoni and Walsh have literally almost fully changed Knicks culture here in New York, giving me and many of my friends hope for quality basketball again. The fact that Walsh was unaware of D'Antoni's intentions as far as playing Marbury would seem outlandish in most contexts, but in New York its simply another example of the sort of miscommunication and poor management we've seen for years. Again, not criticizing the two for most of their work this season, D'Antoni has (with a few exceptional clunker games) made the Knicks watchable again and I honestly think Walsh is doing what he can to clear cap space for 2010 while provided competitive pieces for SSOL ball. This is proof that the ghosts of Isiah and Scott Layden still linger. The sooner Walsh exorcises Marbury the better.
i believe marbury had good intentions coming into this season losing weight and he was in the best shape of his nba career but i believe d antoni didnt like marbury in phoenix and still dont like him d antoni should fess up and say his true feelings about marbury and they should bury the hachet and play ball