Slam Dunk Central

 As was expected, according to Brian Mahoney of the Associated Press, New York Knicks point guard Stephon Marbury was fined a shade over $180,000 for missing the game between the Knicks and Phoenix Suns on Tuesday night.  The fine, is based on the NBA’s collective bargaining agreement; a player is docked 1/110 of their salaries for a missed game; Marbury is making $20.1 million this season, hence the amount of the fine.

Marbury had previously stated that he had received permission from team head coach Isiah Thomas to leave the team, but at the same time, Thomas would not confirm what Marbury had said.  On Tuesday, Thomas would not discuss any penalties that would be levied on Marbury, preferring to keeping it “in-house”. 

From all accounts, there’s always been tension between Thomas and Marbury.  Marbury, while without a doubt a talented player, has come to the point where he may be more trouble than it is worth to retain him.  His erratic behavior, highlighted during the summer when he did a televised interview; he also had to testify during the sexual harrassment trial between Thomas and a former Knicks employee; Marbury had disclosed that he had had sexual relations between him and an intern for the Knicks.  Nothing unusual there, except that after testimony, he was singing and smiling upon leaving the courthouse.

What further complicates matters is the fact that the Knicks are on the hook for $42 million (Marbury’s contract ends next season).  That alone makes it difficult, if not impossible to trade due to the enormity of that contract.  And an outright release would be costly, as well.  So either way, I would venture to say that the Knicks are stuck with Marbury for the foreseeable future.  And without a doubt, Knicks chairman/owner James Dolan has played no small part in this episode going down, beginning with the Thomas debacle.  I don’t want to say that Dolan encouraged that kind of boorish behavior on his watch, but at the same time, based on the fact that Thomas lost the lawsuit, it appears that he didn’t exactly discourage it either.

Unfortunately, all of this will catch up to the Knicks; once upon a time, players wanted to play for New York.  But because word around the league spreads like wildfire, I’d suspect that this is no longer the case.  Not only that, but it may be a risk (hazard?) to be employed by the Knicks, due to the dysfunction that permeates the front office.

Stumble it!