Stephon Marbury: It's Not a Mess; It's a Message

How many chances does a man need? He abandoned his team last season and then opted for an unnecessary surgery that shelved him for the remainder. He’s a cancer in the locker room. So again I ask, how many chances does he need? How many times does this need to play out? Apparently this last time IS the last time.

Marbury is in a contract year. Two things can really hurt a player in a contract year: injuries and/or lack of playing time. Marbury hasn’t been injured, he’s been benched and a year’s worth of DNP-CD’s can really kill a stat line. With each game that he doesn’t play, his free agent value plummets.

The idea is that reality will finally set in and eventually, he’ll agree to a contract buy out. It’s a brilliant plan; it’s a ballsy plan, and the ploy seems to be working, as I’m hearing of rumors of Marbury landing in Miami and that Shawn Marion is on the trade block.

It’s not often, indeed, it’s quite rare to see a team willing to go this far. This is a new Knicks team and possibly a new era as well. This is a team with new leadership and new aspirations. The message being sent is that behavior like this will not go unchallenged and that it will not be tolerated.

And if it means that a man that has been referred to as your franchise player doesn’t get on the court for even a minute, then so be it. And as weird as it is for me to be able to say this, it would do well for management and coaching throughout the league to pay attention and take notes.

Neither Walsh nor D’Antoni were around when Marbury was given the abomination that is his current contract nor were they around when previous management handed out millions in contracts to overpaid underachievers. But they are dealing with it and taking the steps to rectify it.

Moves have already been made; moves that keep them competitive now and moves that will clear cap space for the free agent class of 2010. Can you imagine a Knicks team coached by D’Antoni and piloted by LeBron James or Chris Bosh, or, God willing, both?

Mark my words: it is a new era in New York. And it’ll be great to see the Big Apple relevant in the NBA again. But in a few years, it will be even better to see the Knicks relevant in the playoffs again. Believe it; their time is coming.

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