Stephon Marbury mysteriously sat out last night’s win over the Pistons with an alleged sore left ankle, prompting Isiah Thomas to question Marbury’s future with the club.
Thomas and Stephon Marbury appear on the outs again.
“He’s not playing tonight,” Thomas said before last night’s stunning 89-65 Garden rout of the Pistons. “So we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it if he does decide to play again.”
Again?
Thomas’ reckless remark comes two days after Marbury made comments depicting frustration with his lesser role, referring to it as “passive.”
Marbury didn’t even sit on the bench as the Knicks cruised without him, staying back in the locker room. The dressing room was a happy place for one of the few times this season after crushing the exhausted Pistons, who scored one more point than their lowest franchise point total of 64. That the Knicks played their best game of the season without Marbury was telling.
“I didn’t know he wasn’t on the bench,” Thomas said after the win in another dig.
Marbury, who missed his 12th game, did not practice Saturday, something the team failed to announce. And there was no information on how he hurt his foot. Marbury did not stick around afterward to talk to reporters to deepen the mystery. Friends have said it will take him a long time to get over his father’s death and he may have a sore heart more than sore ankle.
Last week, Marbury changed his tune about wanting to stay with the Knicks, saying ambivalently, “If I get traded, I get traded.” There’s been rumors Thomas has tried to offer Marbury for Houston’s injured Tracy McGrady, a former Isiah draft pick.
When asked about Marbury being unhappy with his role before tip-off, Thomas said curtly, “I don’t have a comment. I just want to talk about tonight’s game and he’s not playing.”
Marbury took an extended on-and-off bereavement leave after his father’s Dec. 2 death. He played in three games between Dec. 3 and Jan. 2. In late December, Thomas said he “didn’t know” if Marbury was returning.
Despite the rare win that places them at a wretched 10-26, Thomas’ relationship with his players continues to deteriorate as Thomas’ and Marbury’s status become murkier.
Friday, Thomas had a bench run-in with Zach Randolph two weeks after having a bench run-in with Quentin Richardson. Randolph responded last night with 25 points.
The players seemed confused, too.
“When I came in, his jersey wasn’t over there,” Eddy Curry said. “I don’t know, but I’m sure it’s got to be something, though.”
After Friday’s loss to Toronto, Marbury revisited his reduced role with reporters but stopped short of ripping Thomas. Their relationship became irreparably damaged in November when he bolted Phoenix after learning he might be benched.
Thomas probably didn’t appreciate Marbury using the word “passive” in his diatribe as his patience with his players is growing thin.
Thomas was furious about a private conversation he had with a close friend after the Bulls’ victory last week in Chicago that became public in Saturday’s Post. He called the story, in which he told a friend he’s considering stepping away from the bench to focus on the presidency, “a flat-out lie.”
Thomas also vented to the friend, according to a source, that his players go into games thinking they will lose, that they’ve given up and he’s close to that point, too. Thomas said he likes only three players – Jamal Crawford, Nate Robinson and David Lee. He said, according to the source, he’s coming close to his “breaking point.”
After Friday’s loss to Toronto, Marbury said, “It’s kind of strange and hard, asked to do something like that. I didn’t get paid the money I get paid to get to do what I’m doing right now. I was paid to put the ball in the whole to be aggressive to be a scoring point guard to create for others. Now I’m playing more of a passive role, which I’m comfortable with because I was asked to do this to go forward.”
Knicks 89 Pistons 65