Friday, November 28th, 2008 at 2:15 pm  |  88 responses

Knicks Suspend Stephon Marbury

by Marcel Mutoni

Funny, how do you suspend someone who already DOESN’T play? Eh, whatever, it’s the Knicks.

Heeeere’s, Donnie:

“A player’s central obligation is to provide his professional services when called upon,” team president Donnie Walsh said in a statement.

“Because he refused the coach’s request to play in the team’s last game, we had no choice but to impose disciplinary action.”

Marbury, who insists that he never refused to suit up, will “serve” the suspension tomorrow night, and lose out on about $400K in salary.

  • Add a Comment
  • Share
  • RSS

← Older Comments
  • http://www.freewebs.com/betcats BETCATS

    El Oh El

  • BETCATS

    damm i forgot to delete my link

  • nastierthanyou

    Welcome to the New Age of basketball. The decisions we all make in life will define us. Some we’ll enjoy while others we’ll regret. The knicks as an organization will outlive Marbury. Meanwhile an athletes career will not span 2 decades. Draw it up any way you like whether you agree with steph or the organization, my kids will still be getting starbury gear for xmas. Nah but fo reel Steph will regret this whole ordeal. he loves New york & was excited to return now he’s beggin to leave. GOTTA HURT.

  • ClydeSays

    It’s funny that even seemingly sane people like Walsh & D’Antoni get caught up in the Knicks vortex and screw everything up.

    What harm would there be letting Steph play a role off the bench at the start of the season? If he played well, great. If he didn’t, then D’Antoni had a legit reason to bench him.

    If they had no intention to play him, then just pay his salary and keep him at home.

    A 21 million dollar expiring contract would be gold in the hands of most teams. Since the Knicks haven’t had to operate with any kind of cap-sanity in the past decade, they’ve managed to screw even that up.

  • http://www.peterrobertcasey.com Peter Robert Casey

    They can’t agree on anything.

  • http://thesportsdiaryonline.blogspot.com Roy

    Co-sign @ Peter Robert Casey

  • http://www.ravingblacklunatic.blogspot.com Allenp

    Theo Paps
    I’m trying to figure out why you have such disdain for random men you’ll never meet and who don’t have anything to do with your life. Seriously, the disdain you showed in several comments for certain players, and the glee you seemed to have in informing us that they probably wouldn’t have lived past 20 if it wasn’t for basketball is just disturbing.
    That goes well beyond having a problem with somebody’s game or how they carry themselves on and off the court. That’s evidence of a deeper issue.
    And, if you think all it takes to make it to the NBA, or NFL or any professional league is god-given talent then you don’t know know much about sports or life.
    You internet dudes are real funny.

  • doyouwantmore

    Y’all are still arguing over things that are irrelevant. Stephon is an employee of a company.

    It’s just me, but whatever my boss decides I’m supposed to do, I do. Because they pay me. I do what’s required. I even do things that are counter-productive or don’t make sense because my boss asks it of me and sometimes it sucks in the short run. But I always come out on top because I respect my employer, right or wrong.

    Unlike Steph.

  • http://n/a 007

    Why we should and shouldn’t take comments seriously.
    Enough. All the time. )

  • Theo Papaloukas

    @Allenp..:i talked about the importance of godgiven talent cause i know first hand the advantages it gives you…i used to be a better player than guys that knew the game much better than me(and were smarter) just because i had a really good vertical and explosiveness….i mean,if you don’t get the importance of exceptional athletic ability in a game like basketball i don’t think i can really help you…at the same time my opinions on A.I. and Steph are the regular ones among serious European bball players that follow the NBA.I have talked with players that have represented their countries(and some got medals along the way) in the Olympics and worldchampionships and many of them don’t even consider those guys capable of playing serious bball (although they find them very entertaining and have their shirts). Basically i have this “disdain” you said cause i am an NBA fun and hate it when friends(that make money playing bball) tell me “the NBA is great for dunks ,highlights and stuff but if you want to see real bball you got to follow the Euroleague”… For his negative impact on american bball alone, A.I is one of the worst players of all time…(of course you could say the same based on the trophies he won wherever he played in the last 15 years….it must be the first time in the history of the game that a player that has won NOTHING, NOWHERE is consider an all time great and compared with real legends like Ginobili, Isaia Thomas etc..)

  • doyouwantmore

    I don’t want to butt in uninvited but I always kind of thought it was wack that dudes who haven’t won championships are considered equal to those who have. I mean I guess what it comes down to is would you rather be a rich and famous legend or a winner? Especially if you couldn’t be both – if you had to choose?

  • doyouwantmore

    I don’t want to butt in uninvited but I always kind of thought it was wack that dudes who haven’t won championships are considered equal to those who have. I mean I guess what it comes down to is would you rather be a rich and famous legend or a winner? Especially if you couldn’t be both – if you had to choose?

  • http://www.triplejunearthed.com/dacre Dacre

    i’m still a lover of the knicsk and stephon….this is like young and the restless
    i love the show they put on with Gstate last night….that was NBA

  • http://www.triplejunearthed.com/dacre Dacre

    being famous will get you free coffee….as ben folds sung.

  • 王骁男

    KNICKS has nothing to do but waiting until 2010……..

  • andy

    Stephon your in trouble, either go to the Warriors or GET OUT OF HERE

  • jay

    first off i am not a marbury fan…he ruined every team he has been on and does not make anyone better. that being said, i think banishing steph should have been done in game 1..if you do not have him in your plans and dont plan on playing him..this should have been taken care of in the off-season…i think starbury deserves what he gets but no player should be in this position. if they dont want him….work out a buyout and both sides compromise and move on!

  • chintao

    Co-sign Marcel. Can’t Donnie think up of a more creative punishment for a guy who already doesn’t play?

  • chintao

    @ doyouwantmore ==> I have no respect for my employer. The system is a zero-sum game. Either you game your boss, or he games you. Put The Roots on pause for a minute and take a listen to “Hell Yeah” by dead prez.

  • Gaber

    @Papaloukas

    John Stocktos, Charles Barkley, Karl Malone, Patrick Ewing,…
    they won like ZERO championships. They should not be top players in history.
    I guess Robert Horry is one of the best players in the history of the b-ball.

  • Gaz

    mmmm I agree The Rockets + Sydney + Hursty = Crap.
    Oh and BETCATS is rather homosexual.

  • Theo Papaloukas

    @Gaber….:all of them won the second most important(after the WORLD’S) bball championship in the world:the Olympics.At the same time all of them lost to the greatest player of all time at the peak of his game. Ewing also won the NCAA if i remember correct…The cartoon is the only one who NEVER won ANYTHING – ANYWERE!!! To compare him to true legends that led their teams near the top year after year just shows your understanding of the game (or your age…).And i would take Robert Horry in his prime on my team over the cartoon ANYDAY…Once again: A.I &Steph are two of the worst players of all time(they ain’t worse than Benoit Benjamin but at the same time Benoit’s influence on this game was near zero).

  • FLUD

    Theo, you’re a funny guy. As in screwy… “Once again: A.I &Steph are two of the worst players of all time”…. that is just a crazy statement.

  • zee jay

    just trade him bak 2 th suns
    he ll be way better with STAT Nash n
    now thy also got shaq
    knicks=suck at bball
    suns=1 of th best teams in the nba

  • zee jay

    trade em 4 barbosa and hill make starbury
    play shoting guard

  • grave dohl

    Theo P., you are money man, who cares what they say. Americans think they know everything bout basketball.
    Guess what, it’s still a 5-on-5 game. Even MJ knew that, though he was a soloist as much as anyone. Guys like Malone and Stock and Chuck were teamplayers in the end. AI and Steph might have some personal highlights, but what else?! We all love their playground style of ball, but really, “sacrifice for the team” is not whithin their system. They can’t make others around them better and so, lack greatness.

  • http://www.ravingblacklunatic.blogspot.com Allenp

    Grave Dohl
    You never watched Barkely play. Clearly, you never watched him play because you would know he was just as much of a gunner as any other superstar. And Malone was the same way.
    Paps
    You never addressed why it brought you such pleasure to point out that AI, Marbury and several others would be dead if it wasn’t for basketball.
    Why was that even a part of this discussion? You revealed something about yourself with that comment, I’m glad I was able to read it.

  • Theo Papaloukas

    @Allenp….: i guess i’m on your “black”(!!!) list now,e..??

  • http://www.ravingblacklunatic.blogspot.com Allenp

    You are what your record says you are.

  • http://pizzaburekblogspot.com SchW

    come on theo… u with all the smart ass comments… Cuz for a fact i know if u really would be Papaloukas you would not write on this website!!!! And to all of y´all… you remember the 10th anniversary issue of the Slam… when they pointed out how Starbury screwed everything up when he left the Wolves… man those were the days… I´m just glad that KG got one and i wish the same thing for M;arbury. Even if it is something like finley:))) one

  • Theo Papaloukas

    @SchW….:if i was Theo i would spend my time trying to figure out why i couldn’t get by Yasikevicious’ defence(!!!) last Sunday….

  • doyouwantmore

    Chintao – I kind of outgrew Dead Prez a while ago, but they’re still dope.

    If I was in a situation with an unfair employer or I needed to do things different to feed my kids it would be a different story.

    But I entered into a contract that pays me really well to do something I love. Getting paid really well to do something you love is respect. And any employee in a situation like that would do well to respect the employer who put them in it. Even if it means showing some humility.

    No one is pimping Stephon. Stephon is a symbol of how compromise of character and poor personal decisions can throw off all kinds of areas of a person’s life.

    You know a tree by it’s fruit. NO one is pimping Stephon man. He’s gotten everything he REALLY wanted. If he’d wanted to be a champion, a winner, respected, a role-model, or all those things he WOULD be. He’s too talented not to. What he IS is a dude that got what he was going for – a big payday that he didn’t truly earn.

    That’s what the pro-Starbury cats need to admit to themselves. That he isn’t now, and hasn’t yet, EARNED that dough. His talent got it for him but he hasn’t shown any evidence of being worth that much money to the business of the NBA. There are higher principles than just getting paid.

    Maybe you respect the kind of person that gets the dough by any means, and that’s cool. Personally, I respect character and integrity because a paycheck doesn’t help your game one bit.

  • chintao

    ^ Yo, man. EVERY employer is unfair. That is the nature of the system. If the employer isn’t unfair, he doesn’t make any more than the employee. Show me an example of that type of relationship? Whatever you say, it sure isn’t taking the form of the New York Knicks. Also, it doesn’t sound like you “outgrew” the dp’z. It sounds more like you sold out to The Man. It’s funny that, just because Steph makes doe, you think he isn’t being pimped. It’s all relative. Until Steph goes from being merely rich to being wealthy, he’s a ho’, who gets pimped. Your mention of the supposedly sacred nature of contract is ironic. The Knicks owe Steph money, but they want him to take a paycut, so it will be easier to ship him to another team (which likely would not be located in his beloved hometown). You also say that Steph is not earning is cash. That’s a cop-out. The owners thought he was worth the money. They signed him up. Now they feel it didn’t work out, and they want to break the contract to go in a different direction. Like it or not, the owners bear the risk of being entreprenuers, and no matter how much loot Steph makes, Dolan will make EVEN MORE. Who’s really not living up to his end of the bargain here? If the Knicks want to change plans, that’s not Marbury’s fault. Dude got into the best shape of his life. He was ready to play, and on some petty B.S, D’Antoni blacklists him before the season even begins. Now D’Antoni has painted himself into a corner and is trying to blame Stephon. Coach D needs to step-up and take some responsibility, if he wants to get this thing resolved before the end of the year. Instead, he is hoping that the media will get tired of the story. What a pu$$y he is. In closing, I respect character and integrity as much as anyone. Steph is doing what he believes is right. F’ the dumb isht, he has the opportunity to serve-up his revenge piping hot. He is more the man for having the nerve to do it, even though the consequences will surely be adverse to his financial interests. Playing would have been the easy way out. What kind integrity would it have taken to say, “Yessa, Massa D’Antoni. I sho’ is grateful that you is allowin’ me to play (myself)”?

  • chintao

    @ doyouwantmore ==> What do you think Questo or Tariq would think of your position on this matter?

  • grave dohl

    @Allenp

    hence the “in the end”, cus that’s when players become smart(er) and realize the egotrip only lasts so long, as Bartowski did.
    They’re ALL gunners when they start out, unless you’re a true PG coming in and that almost never happens. (Just look at D. Rose. Not so much passing the ball now.)
    You tell me that Chuck with the Suns was a straight up gunner?? Philly, yes, cuz he had poop to work with, but that Suns team was a unit man and at least he passed the ball.

  • doyouwantmore

    LOL! ——’Sounds like you sold out to ‘the man’. Great quote Chintao. You’re probably the first person to ever say that. Whatever, man. I see why you are down with Starbury now. All the drama and hip-hop cliches and everything. It’s all good. I hope the best for Steph, honestly I do. I disagree about him being in good shape though, because mentally I do not believe that guy is in good shape. And to answer your last question I think Tariq would tell me to vote for Obama and Questlove would tell me I’m a good drummer. Please stop researching me now.

  • chintao

    ^ I love how you’re trying to skate on this issue by bragging about yourself. Classy. Anyway, to resume the topic at hand, what could Marbury do to convince you that he’s mentally prepared to play? Steph showed-up to optional team runs prior to the beginning of the year. He said he was willing to come off the bench behind that bum, Douche-hon. What else could Marbury do to show that his head was in the right place? In the end, all that faith he put in the clean slate promised by D’Antoni and the Knicks was misplaced. Now he’s chilling on the shelf D’Antoni put him on. Only a crazy person would be like, “Aw, yeah. You did me wrong, but sure, I’ll come off the inactive list and pull your a$$ out of the fire. No problem.” To me, his actions are super-rational. Then again, it’s a crazy world, so maybe being logical is actually crazy.

  • chintao

    Also, I understand why you’re having trouble accepting my point of view on things. If I am probably the first person to see you for who you really are, you might not be ready to look in the mirror.

← Older Comments
Advertisement