In today’s episode of As the Starbury Turns, Knicks coach Mike D’Antoni and president Donnie Walsh told reporters that the club has no plans to either trade, waive, or buy out Stephon Marbury, meaning he’ll continue to sit on the bench and count his money for the foreseeable future. D’Antoni, unsurprisingly, would love to put all of the drama behind him. But he might be just a tad naïve about the way these things tend to play out. “Pretty soon that story is not going to be fun to read because it is going to be the same old story,” he said. “You are going to be beating a dead horse.”
Here’s the thing, though: The words “Stephon Marbury” and “same old story” tend not to go together very often. This is the man that brought us the sex truck, a head tattoo, and the blackmailing of Isiah Thomas. It’s really always something with Marbury, and that something is dependably entertaining. (This week’s fun fact: Marbury’s already canceled the $1 million in season tickets he used to purchase for family and friends, likely because he expected to be playing elsewhere by now. Also: He used to spend $1 million on Knicks tickets!) There’s very little chance of him keeping his mouth shut until his contract expires, and just as little chance that his comments won’t be subsequently blown way out of proportion.
Take, well, today for example. He’s back-page news for jokingly (but probably not really jokingly) saying he misses Larry Brown, the disaster of a coach (in town with the Bobcats tonight) who, if nothing else, at least let him play. And this one’s pretty tame. Wait until he starts holding up “Trade Me” signs in the middle of games, Manny Ramirez–style. Maybe the Knicks really will keep him on the bench all season. But if Marbury isn’t happy — and why would he be? — it’s unlikely we’ll run out of things to talk about.
