Have You Seen What Marbury Does To The Teams He Leaves?

So, what do the Minnesota Timberwolves, New Jersey Nets, Phoenix Suns, and New York Knicks have in common?

No, all those teams aren't playoff bound, nor are they all franchises run by former-NBA players.

The one thing they have is common is Stephon Marbury.

Routinely, throughout the history of the National Basketball Association, when a superstar player leaves an organization, that organization free-falls into mediocrity. 

Such is not the case for Marbury, who was released from the New York Knicks this week. When Marbury leaves an NBA franchise, that franchise rises to the cream of the crop. 

With Marbury free to sign with any team he pleases, he chose to sign with the reigning NBA Champions, and the leagues' most storied franchise: The Boston Celtics.

The Celtics will be Marbury's fifth team in 12 seasons. 

Once again, Marbury will be Eastern Conference playoff-bound, after receiving his buyout from the Knicks, and signing with a team before the March 1 deadline for waiver-wire transactions.

Marbury has been to the playoffs onlyfour times in his career. Marbury's career proved promising at its onset, with two consective trips to the playoffs, playing Robin to Kevin Garnett's Batman in Minnesota, but has since become cancerous.

Garnett soon grew tired of Marbury, or was it the other way around?

In the middle of a strike-shortened third season, the T-Wolves shipped Starbury east to the Nets in a three-player deal that saw Sam Cassell join the T-Wolves, to help lead them to the third best record in the west that season.

The Nets, on the hand, toiled in sub-par seasons for Marbury's two-year tenure, until they traded for the Suns' Jason Kidd.

Kidd, with one of the most talented supporting casts this side of the truth, helped lead the Nets to multiple NBA Finals appearances.

Sadly, the Nets never did win a championship.

So what happened to the Suns?

Well, they eventually earned a playoff spot with an All-Star roster that included Shawn Marion, Amar'e Stoudemire, and Joe Johnson, no thanks to Marbury's thirty-plus shots per game.

The Suns then predictablely traded Marbury, this time to the Knicks in a blockbuster deal that allowed Suns owner Jerry Colangelo to acquire enough cap room to sign Steve Nash.

All Nash did in Phoenix was win two-consecutive Most Valuable Player Awards, and he continues to take them to the playoffs year after year.

As the star point guard for his hometown team, the Brooklyn-native Marbury managed to win no more than 30 games in a single season and eventually refused to play or practice.

Did we mention his legal troubles?

So with Marbury officially out of New York, what will become of the desolate Knicks?

Will Mike D'Antoni do for the Knicks franchise what he did with the Suns?

How will Marbury's presence impact an impressionable young All-Star in Rajon Rondo?

Will Marbury ruin the team chemistry that led the Celtics to the title last season, and in turn, the popularity of the NBA?

Because we all know that when the Celtics and Lakers are good, the association thrives.

When the Knicks do poorly, no one cares. Not even in New York.