Marbury Should Be Suspended

<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">March 16, 2006 -- FINALLY the Knicks are entertaining again; not for anything they've done on the court, mind you, but for becoming a reality show the likes of which television executives only can envy.
Perhaps we should call this the "Surreal World of the Knicks," "Desperate Hoopsters," "American Idiots," or maybe, simply, "Lost," a continuing drama starring Larry Brown and Stephon Marbury with occasional guest appearances by Isiah Thomas and James Dolan.

Who knew the Knicks would grab our attention with a verbal feud between Brown, the 65-year-old coach, and Marbury, the Me-generation point guard, while Thomas shows zero leadership by allowing this war to reach a boiling point.

Hours after publicly dissing his coach and calling their feud "personal," Marbury was in the Knicks' starting lineup for last night's game against the Hawks at the Garden. But he did not play the last 23 minutes.

If the Knicks had any backbone, he would have been suspended for one game, maybe two, for insubordination.

When you talk about your coach the way Marbury did yesterday, saying, "He always crosses the line," and "I don't think it's about basketball anymore," and "If somebody hits me you hit them back," that's insubordination.

Marbury questioned Brown's integrity yesterday when he said, "If you sit down and talk to coach, it's liable to get back to everybody," and earlier this week Marbury promised rebellion by saying he would play like "Starbury" instead of following Brown's direction.

Maybe Thomas suspends Marbury for tomorrow's game against Detroit. If Thomas doesn't, if he allows Marbury to get away with ripping his coach, then Brown might as well leave at season's end and find a GM who will protect his back. No amount of money is worth having a player challenge your authority, much less the integrity you've built during a 30-year career.

I'm not saying Brown is innocent in all this. He didn't need to rile Marbury by suggesting reporters compare their track records. That's what miffed Marbury yesterday. But a player can't publicly rip a coach and everybody act like it never happened. Not if Brown ever wants to be taken seriously around here again.

If Marbury is indeed suspended for one game or two, it should be announced by Thomas, not through some release from the public relations department. Marbury yesterday said Thomas didn't need to intervene.

"We don't have to have another man come mediate two grown men," Marbury said.

But that's Thomas' job, especially when it threatens to rip apart an already unstable franchise.

If Marbury isn't disciplined, then don't look for Brown to stay around long. Marbury's contract makes him virtually impossible to trade. He'll be a loose cannon and Brown's worst nightmare. Thus far, it seems impossible the two can coexist. </div>

Source

I've been wondering about this myself, why hasn't Brown or Isiah disciplined him for his public comments?

The Knicks should send him home for the rest of the season and then replace Marbury with Steve Francis in the starting lineup.

 

<div class="quote_poster">Quoting phunDamentalz:</div><div class="quote_post">I have to disagree with that. What is Steph guilty of? His frustrations with losing led him to questioning Larry's coaching to the press - that was wrong and disrespectful. If that's all he's guilty of, no way does he deserve a lengthy suspension. A suspension for the rest of the season could potentially ruin the rest of his career. look at Sprewell. We're talking about QUESTIONING THE COACH TO THE PRESS. Not not refusing to play or brawling with teammates or failing drug tests or being indicted on rape or murder. Brown should be mature enough at his age to realize that when you're losing that much, you say or do stuff that is less than classy. Brown should also be knowledgeable enough to realize that Marbury is always going to have an ego and a streetballer mentality - the trick is to allow him to feel like Starbury WHILE incorporating a good offense. Trying to turn Stephon into just one of the guys isn't going to work. They need to sit down and work it out. Larry and AI didn't get on either but they worked it out. Larry's attitude this whole season has been 'poor me' - he hasn't really owned up to his part in their struggles, and Steph is calling him on that. I actually feel for Steph right now cause i feel like it's turning into another witchhunt situation similar to T.O. Don't get it twisted - Steph is NOT T.O. not by a mile.</div>

Larry Brown has coddled Marbury all season long and has been open to listening to his players. Marbury just doesn't get it, never has, and he hasn't shown any signs he ever will.

You can never allow a player to speak about the head coach like Marbury did. It undermines the coaches authority, and it tears the team apart. If you allow Marbury to pop off to the media without recourse, then other players are going to start tuning out the coach and not playing team basketball.