<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>Stephon Marbury has been away from the Knicks for eight straight days and will not be back at the Garden for Sunday's game against the Bulls, but the Knicks' starting point guard plans to return to the team "sometime after the New Year," according to a Knicks PR official. The official spoke with Marbury yesterday to address speculation over the grieving guard's status with the team. Questions over Marbury's future with the Knicks were fueled by Isiah Thomas' comments after Knicks practice Thursday. "I don't know," Thomas said when asked if there was a chance Marbury would not return to the team this season. Marbury missed practice yesterday and has been in and out of the lineup since his father, Don, died on Dec.2 after suffering a heart attack while watching the Knicks-Suns game. A few hours later, Thomas' comments were broadcast on the radio and a team spokesman contacted Marbury to confirm that he would return to the Knicks and shoot down any conjecture that the Coney Island product had plans to leave the team. Marbury told the official that "he's never given anyone in our organization any indication that he wouldn't come back."</div> Source
