If you were watching the match between the New York Knicks and the Phoenix Suns in Arizona last night, you were probably wondering why on earth was Stephon Marbury missing from the Knicks. Frankly, I cannot give you an answer as only the player himself and coach/GM Isiah Thomas might ever know that.

All we know is that Marbury left the team on their current road trip and went home to New York. As he arrived he sent a text message to the local paper stating that Thomas allowed him to leave and that he would not be there in Phoenix nor in Los Angeles when the Knicks match up against the Clippers.

Meanwhile, Thomas stated that he was hoping Marbury would be there for the Suns game, or that he would rejoin the team in Los Angeles. To this Steph simply responded with a definitive ‘no’ as he clarified that he has no intention of going to LA.

‘Every time I think there is not another millimetre lower that this team could go, they manage to sink to some new depths’


Your average Knicks fan through all of this commotion is weeping and asking the skies what he has done to deserve this. Really, every time I think there is not another millimetre lower that this team could go they manage to sink to some new depths.

Unfortunately, it has been a trademark of the Isiah Thomas era in New York that the team has always shown flashes of brilliance only for these to be erased by futility and sheer stupidity. Just last week New York beat the Denver Nuggets in a game that showed just how dominant this team could be if they just simply gave a damn. Lack of talent has never been a problem with this Knicks team, but they clearly lack leadership, character and respect and love for the game.

Marbury has gone from hero to zero in a matter of months. He was the Big Apple’s favourite last year, the guy who changed his game to accommodate Eddy Curry’s low post play and the loads of scorers on the roster. He then spent the summer making a fool of himself in a TV interview and turning public opinion against himself during Isiah Thomas’s sexual harassment trial. It is telling that whilst in May 90 per cent of Knicks fans agreed that he should not be traded, after this latest incident in an internet survey more than 80 per cent were all for letting him go.

It is idiotic to say the Knicks are better without Marbury – he is too talented, too good a player for that to be true. Yet I would probably say the Knicks would be better off without him. Their performances might take a hit, but the team would probably be rid of an overtly cancerous locker-room presence. If Thomas allows Marbury back on to the team it will send a message to the young players on the roster – the talented Nate Robinson, Renaldo Balkman, David Lee, Wilson Chandler. They will all see that a player can get away with anything as long as he has the game. Is that really what Thomas wants to teach his kids?

To some extent it really is a shame that this incident ever took place. The Knicks started the season with some decent showings. They were answering the critics who were questioning how Curry and newly acquired Zach Randolph could possibly play together. During that Nuggets game the low-post tandem was even more dominant than Thomas had envisioned (and they did it against a tough frontline that featured last year’s defensive player of the year).

To lose Marbury after this is really heartbreaking, but I just do not see any other alternative. Steph has long worn out his welcome, he has abused his popularity with the fans, and his non-caring persona has turned the Knicks faithful against him.