Stephon Marbury refuses playing time with Knicks

The New York Knicks are in the process of creating salary cap space, and in the past week have traded Jamal Crawford, Zach Randolph and Mardy Collins.  Since the Knicks were still awaiting the players they acquired in the trade, their bench was depleted for Friday night’s game against Milwaukee.  With NBA rules requiring a team to have eight players dressed or else forfeit the game, Stephon Marbury dressed for the first time this season.  Furthermore, he was told by head coach Mike D'Antoni that there would be 30 to 35 minutes of playing time available should he want it.

Not surprisingly, the character challenged Marbury declined.  D’Antoni recounted how it transpired:

"When the trades went down this afternoon, I said, 'Look Steph, one of the principals are gone, Jamal Crawford. There's 30 to 35 minutes out there, and they're yours if you want them. Are you ready to go?'

According to D’Anonio, Marbury responded that he “wasn't comfortable with the situation” and didn’t want to play.  Marbury feebly tried to spin the story in his favor with this baleful excuse:

"The only thing I'm at liberty to say is that I was told that they were moving forward, and I'm not the person who chooses who plays or doesn't”

Suggesting that he wanted to go in the game, and citing his taped ankles as evidence, Marbury continued spinning his tale:

"Refusing to play is when the coach tries to put you in the game and you say you're not going in. If he asked me to go into the game, I was going into the game. That's why I taped my ankles."

In any case, Marbury held down his traditional spot at the end of the Knicks’ bench—only in his uniform rather than street clothes for a change.  His story is even more implausible considering the Knicks’ short term personnel circumstance and the tenor of D’Antoni’s statements:

"I thought it was an opportunity for him to play, and I was kind of hoping. But at the same time, there's consideration of a lot of guys in that locker room that are giving their hearts out. And those are the guys that I'm going to go on with, and those are the guys that I'm going to love, and those are the guys that are going to compete every night."

Likely due to Marbury’s “dead man walking” status with the team, D’Antoni wasn’t particularly upset by Marbury’s decision and said he didn’t consider it “insubordination”:

"He was in a tough situation. I'm not mad at Steph. But that's enough of the talk because it is a distraction and we need to go forward and we have a new team coming in and we're going to get this done."

D’Antoni’s players also sounded like they couldn’t care less if Marbury played or didn’t as indicated by Chris Duhon’s comment:

"Steph's a grown man. If he doesn't want to play, he doesn't want to play. It doesn't bother me at all. I was satisfied going to war with the seven guys we had."

D’Antoni has since said that he won’t bother trying to play Marbury again, even should a similar personnel situation make it desirable declaring that the situation was “over with and we’re not going to come back”.  Marbury is making a healthy $21.9 million this season for the arduous task of holding down the twelfth chair on the Knicks sideline.