Stephon Marbury told The Post yesterday that he is done with the NBA. He will never get a second chance with the Knicks like Isiah Thomas, whose NBA life was resuscitated by James Dolan on Friday.
“Good luck, New York,” Marbury said wryly in reacting to Thomas’ return to the Knicks as a part-time consultant. “Good luck, New York.”
Marbury, who began training Friday in Los Angeles to get ready for the Chinese Basketball Association season that starts in December, and Thomas still are next-door neighbors in Purchase, N.Y. The two are intertwined in Knicks history with their falling-out symbolizing the franchise’s plummet to rock bottom.
Marbury, the linchpin acquisition of the Thomas era, once regarded the former Knicks president as a father figure.
“You can’t judge a book by its cover,” Marbury said. “I thought it was real.”
Marbury said he believes that their relationship became damaged because of the 2007 sexual harassment suit by Anucha Brown-Sanders against Thomas.
Marbury was called in to testify that he had sexual relations with a Knicks intern. A source close to Marbury said Thomas wanted him to be more evasive during testimony. Instead, Marbury’s testimony was graphically blunt and honest.
“It wasn’t in my character to say it any other way,” Marbury said. “And they brought me in to make the case bigger.”
At the start of that 2007-08 season, Thomas benched Marbury on a West Coast trip. They engaged in a shouting match on the plane ride during which Marbury threatened to spread dirt on Thomas. Thomas ordered him to fly home.
It was the beginning of the end for Marbury as a Knick. But Marbury isn’t yet willing to dish dirt on Thomas, who brought him to New York to fulfill his dream.
“I’m thankful for the whole experience in New York,” Marbury said. “It was a life-changing experience.”
Dolan’s decision to make Thomas a part-time consultant, The Post reported yesterday, has team president Donnie Walsh livid. Walsh told Thomas two weeks ago he did not want him working for the organization. Thomas went to Dolan to hatch a side consulting deal without Walsh’s knowledge, leaving the Knicks president’s status compromised.
“It’s terrible what Dolan did to Donnie,” one source said. “It’s a disaster.”
Marbury said he isn’t surprised, feeling his banishment by coach Mike D’Antoni was also out of Walsh’s hands.
“It looked to me like Donnie didn’t have the power,” Marbury said.