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Starbury Tells Free Agents to Avoid NYC, Lashes Out at Knicks

Posted Jul 01, 2009 8:20PM By Will Brinson (RSS feed)

Filed Under: Celtics, Knicks, NBA Media Watch, NBA Rumors

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Stephon Marbury is one of those weird characters who has just the right mix of "crazy" and "keepin' it real" where you can't ever be sure whether to trust or distrust him. Personally, I think he's a bad apple who keeps getting too many chances, but some people feel differently.

After Marbury recently did a Knickerbocker-beat-down of an interview with the New York Post, I would imagine no one who plays professional basketball in the Big Apple is much of a fan either. Marbury's quotes are full of disparaging remarks, as he essentially urged any free agents to avoid Donnie Walsh and Mike D'Antoni like the plague.
"I wouldn't want to play in that system,'' Marbury told The Post. "That system can't win championships. You can't win championships if you don't talk about defense. In Boston, the coaches even play defense.''
Marbury also mentioned that his time in New York "mentally damaged" him and pointed out that much of his release process was "personal." But perhaps the most damaging -- provided that you believe what he says anyway -- were his comments about the coach and president of the Knicks:
"Mentally, what I had to deal with, the process with D'Antoni, the president (Donnie Walsh), it was mindboggling,'' Marbury said. "Two people can't make a decision and they have to go above them to Mr. Dolan."
I say "most damaging" just because most people believe that regardless of the damage that Isiah Thomas wrecked while in NYC, there seemed to be at least some change of culture with the presence of D'Antoni and Walsh. Marbury's comments -- particularly with the reference to Dolan -- seem to indicate otherwise.

And as I mentioned, I'm not a Marbury believer. But that doesn't mean other players in the league don't trust -- or, at least, listen to -- what Starbury says. And the fact of the matter is that rumors, whether they have legs or not, can do damage sometimes; things would be really awkward if, for whatever reason, LeBron James was a big fan of Marbury's.

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Tags: Donnie+Walsh, DonnieWalsh, LeBron+James, LebronJames, Mike+DAntoni, MikeDantoni, Stephon+Marbury, StephonMarbury

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