Was Stephon Marbury's Run as a Knick Set Up To Fail from the Start?

Jan. 5, 2004, a day that will live in infamy in the hearts and minds of Knicks fans. For it was on this day that the prodigal son came home to lead his city to the promise land. Stephon Marbury was a New York Knickerbocker.

However the five years that followed were anything but promising. The New York Knicks failed to make the playoffs four of the five seasons Marbury was a part of the team. His public disputes with the Knick coaches often divided the team and caused Marbury to lose popularity in New York. Often times he was fingered as the main cause of the Knicks woes.

His benching after 24 games in the '07-08 season seemed to be a relief to the players as well as the fans. However the losing continued.

Today, the day after Marbury's contract was bought out by the Knicks, it is hard to look back and say anything positive about his time with the Knicks.

The question is, was Marbury to blame? Was there ever a time that it can honestly be said that Marbury was put in an ideal position for him given his abilities and temperament?

Coach Larry Brown and Marbury were at odds from the moment Marbury became a Knick. Which shouldn't have been a surprise given Brown's "Iron fist" style of coaching and his previous relationship in Philadelphia was another guard wearing number three.

Throughout the Larry Brown era, Marbury's performance on the court was consistent with what he had done his entire career. In fact, Marbury's entire tenure with the Knicks he averaged 17.6 ppg and 6.7 apg. Just slightly off his career averages of 19.7 and 7.8.

Larry Brown's departure and Isaiah Thomas taking the helm of the team that he built was said to signal an upswing for the Knicks, and at first it did. The Knicks surpassed their previous season win total of 23 games midway through Isaiah's first season as head coach. The winning didn't however as they finished the season with just 33 wins.

Marbury numbers again hovered at slight below is average but his newly acquired willingness to get the ball to his teammates was a sign of his maturity as a player.

However his teammates weren't very good. Thomas had assembled a team of overpaid underachievers. They performed mediocore and the team suffered. Once again Marbury was to blame.

Then the feuding started again.

Marbury and Thomas highly publicized feud once again was seen as a major distraction to the team and the losing continued as a result. The player and coach's alleged physical altercation as well as the sexual harassment scandal that followed tore the team and the two one-time friends apart. Still Marbury performed up until he was benched.

The end of the '07-08 spelled the end for Isaiah as coach/President. Donnie Walsh was appointed as president and his first order of business was to name Marbury's old coach Mike D'Antoni as the new head coach. D'Antoni's first moves? Banish Marbury and sign his replacement.   

Marbury's time with Knicks will undoubtedly be seen as a failure. However his performance on the court as well as his antics of the court were consistent with the player he had always been. 

His lack of a cohesive team and coaches that constantly asked him to be someone other than Stephon Marbury were things that he couldn't help. 

Stephon Marbury was never put in a winning environment in New York. So in hindsight he did exactly what he was expected to do.