Stephon Marbury: Should He Stay or Should He Go?

He's in!

He's out!

He's our guy!

He's on the trading block!

Stephon Marbury has been the face of the New York Knickerbockers since 2004-2005.

He has been consistent.  He is consistently a pain in the neck, trouble in the locker room, and lacking in effort when on the court.

Marbury will be paid $19,012,500 in 2008 in salary alone. His stats last year as a point guard for the Knicks were 13.9 PPG, 4.7 ASST, and 0.9 STL. Jamal Crawford, the shooting guard for the Knicks, is due almost $12,000,000 less in salary than Marbury—and outperformed him last year in every category.

Could Marbury's age be catching up to him? Is he that disgruntled to be on a team that hasn't had a shot at the playoffs since '03-04?

The correct answer is, "It doesn't matter, you're under contract."

If Marbury quits again in a game again this season, bench him and don't pay him. Simple as that. If any player acts like a child and throws a tantrum because they are not getting the results they desire, then so what?

Marbury quit on his coach, fans and, more importantly, his teammates. He has shown no leadership quality, despite being a guy who is supposed to be the mature veteran on a team of young, inexperienced players trying. 

He should be teaching them about the NBA lifestyle and the way to play the game—but instead he pretends to play long enough to collect his check, then goes home and forgets about the rest of his duties.

My opinion is Marbury should have been gone from this team last year, but nobody would take him because of his contract. DING DING DING! That should be a clue. Other clubs and scouts have picked up on the fact that this guy is not worth the money he's being paid.

Earlier today, there was a report that Knicks president Donnie Walsh was going to cut Marbury and sever a long overdue tie between the organization and the player. Then they change their minds, and now he's coming to training camp.

Which one is it?!

Marbury has slowly gotten worse since becoming a Knick, going from almost 20 PPG, thensliding to 16, and last season put up just 13.

The solution is to cut Marbury, and get ready for 2010.  LeBron James will be coming to New York City—whether with the Knicks or another team—not sticking with the Cavaliers.