<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Months before Antonio Davis memorably climbed into the national scene last week in Chicago, there were questions about his future with the Knicks. Those same questions have resurfaced even though Davis has not. Larry Brown said yesterday that he is expecting Davis to rejoin the team but the coach was noncommittal when asked where and when that may take place, raising speculation that Davis may never again play for the Knicks. Davis, who was reluctant to join the Knicks after being included in the Eddy Curry deal during the first week of training camp, was given permission to return home to Chicago after the NBA suspended the veteran forward for five games for jumping into the stands during a Knicks-Bulls game last week. Under league rules, any suspended player is barred from an arena before, during and after a game. Davis is eligible to play Monday against the Hawks in Atlanta. Under the ban, he is allowed to practice with the Knicks but he has already missed three training sessions. Yesterday, Brown was vague concerning Davis' status. When asked if he expected the power forward to rejoin the team, Brown replied: "Yeah ... unless something crazy happens that I don't know about." Asked if Davis still wants to play in New York, Brown answered: "I don't even think that's an issue." Brown indicated that Davis may rejoin the Knicks Saturday in Philadelphia. If true, Davis will watch the game from his hotel room before meeting the team at the airport for its late-night flight to Atlanta. The longer he stays away, however, the more his absence increases the possibility of Isiah Thomas trading or releasing Davis, who is in the last year of his contract. A Knicks official said yesterday that there continue to be whispers inside the organization that Davis will be released so he can sign with a contending team. That scenario, however, is unlikely to happen until after the Feb. 23 trading deadline, if at all. Davis, who was also coached by Brown in Indiana, is one of the Knicks' few stable veterans. "The last thing the Knicks want to do is to keep losing because the Bulls have their first-round pick," said one league source. "Davis will keep them close." Davis, however, is also standing in the way of progress. Because he is a leader and the Knicks' best low-post defender, Davis starts ahead of rookie Channing Frye. If Davis is traded or released, Frye would be the full-time starter. Davis' expiring contract would draw interest from several teams, and the Knicks might be able to trade Davis to Toronto for Jalen Rose, a player who has been on Thomas' radar for two years. The feeling around the league is that Thomas is trying to trade Davis, even though the Knicks assured him in training camp that he was safe. The Knicks were originally planning to release Davis in October, which would have allowed him to re-sign with Chicago. In fact, Davis said early on that he was considering retirement if he couldn't return to the Bulls. Brown was sympathetic to Davis' plight, but Thomas, the Knicks president, disagreed, and saying that basketball is a business and not charity, decided not to release him. Not surprisingly, Brown and Thomas both had different views after the league suspended Davis. Brown called the penalty "real excessive" while Thomas called it "just." Thomas was the only one associated with the Knicks who supported the league over Davis, which is something several teammates noticed. Had it been Stephon Marbury under the league's microscope, Thomas' reaction certainly would have been different. "It's been made clear to all of us that a player should never leave the playing field and go into the stands," Thomas said Thursday. It was a departure for Thomas, who over the years has hinted that street justice has a place in the NBA. Davis will lose approximately $630,000 in wages during his suspension. The Knicks have lost at home to Detroit and New Orleans during the first two games of his ban. They face Sacramento at the Garden tonight. "It's been hard for him with his family in Chicago and him being here," Brown said. "This isn't the way we planned it. But, I thought it was okay for him to stay there and get with his family."</div> http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/basketba...3p-327276c.html
oh i thought hes cool with the knicks, and we can use him he did good for the past few games hitting jump shots, but if he get traded its whatever this is all business
