Jerome James has crawled out of Larry Brown’s doghouse while Trevor Ariza is trapped deeper.
The war of words between Ariza and Brown escalated yesterday when the Knick coach called him “delusional” for claiming ignorance on being removed from the rotation.
Meanwhile, James, who reported on New Year’s morning in no condition to compete in practice, will have his suspension lifted before tonight’s Garden match vs. Washington. The Knicks (8-21) look to build on their 1-0 record in 2006 and triple-OT thriller over Phoenix.
Brown, despondent over Team Titanic’s start, had sent a message to his players by conducting a 10 a.m. practice New Year’s Day. But Brown’s signal to refrain from a massive New Year’s Eve celebration never infiltrated James.
The suspension’s lit a fire under James. “He had a bad day and that’s over with,” Brown said. “He’s had two great practices.”
With James activated, Ariza could be deactivated. Brown is furious Ariza raised the issue Monday that a lack of communication existed and “confusion” reigned in the locker room.
Ariza, 20, was angered Brown told the beat writers before he told him of his demotion.
“Every other coach has [spoken to him] a number of times,” Brown said. “He’s just delusional. Things get over fast with me. It’s what you do in practice every day. To say he doesn’t know what’s going on, he’s delusional.”
Brown questioned the UCLA product’s attitude.
“It has nothing to do with how he’s playing,” he said. “It has nothing to do with basketball. He’s just got to grow up a little and understand it’s a team and he’s got to act like a good teammate.
“Sometimes when they hear it from me, that’s just coach,” Brown said. “We got five other [coaches] that have visited with him privately. And he heard something pretty specific from me before the game. If he doesn’t know, it’s because UCLA wasn’t a good academic institution.”
Brown coached the Bruins from 1979-1981.
Ariza, last season’s golden-boy rookie, said, “He just wanted the most out of me. He didn’t feel I was giving him everything I had. Everyone has their own opinion.”
The latest feuds involving Brown, Ariza and James underscore a deeper issue of whether Brown is motivating or turning off the players.
Brown’s brutal honesty hasn’t thrilled Isiah Thomas. When last week’s Stephon Marbury war erupted, Isiah told Brown to ease up. But Brown, 65, will do what he wants, and was stunned he had to take a media-training class in preseason.
marc.berman@nypost.com