NBA - Stephon Marbury will remain inactive with the Knicks - By: A. Nolan

The New York Knicks All-Star player, Stephon Marbury will remain as an inactive player while he will still get paid the $21.9 salary left from his contract with the team. The Knicks announced this decision on Tuesday after a meeting Marbury had with the Knicks’ head Coach Mike D’Antoni, and president Donnie Walsh. They took this decision based on what is best for the team and the expectations they have for this season.

The decision made by Coach D’ Antoni is that he will leave Marbury as an alternative only if any of the opening guards Chris Duhon, Jamal Crawford or Nate Robinson get injured. The Knicks franchise is not going to trade, buy or waive Marbury right know since he still has a contract and with his previous problems with some head coaches, if would be quite difficult to trade him at this moment.

"It is a lot of money," D'Antoni said. "He has a contract, rightly so. If somebody gets hurt, we might need him. Why not? Steph has been great. He is part of the team. We are trying to do what is best for the Knicks."

The hard situation started last season when Isiah Thomas was the Knicks head Coach. Thomas and Marbury had a public incident when Marbury supposedly discovered that Thomas was planning to take him out of the starting lineup. They had an altercate in front of teammates in the team’s plane where both hit each other and Marbury said he was going to blackmail Thomas for this situation. After that and with all the drama involved, the Knicks lost 8 games in a row and Isiah Thomas was fired from his positions as president and head coach of the team.

In addition, Marbury had a season ending injury in his ankle that required surgery back in February.

Since Marbury had altercates with both coaches that he has being under with the Knicks, Larry Brown and Isiah Thomas; Mike D’Antoni has been very careful with Marbury this season, and that is why he put him on the inactive players list. Marbury hasn’t caused any more problems in the team yet and has expressed that he valued D’Antoni decision. The team is now waiting for season ending so that Marbury’s contract ends leaving him as a free agent and they will definitely not resign him.

Stephon Marbury started his basketball career playing with Georgia Tech, and then was selected fourth overall in the 1996 NBA draft by the Milwaukee Bucks. However, Marbury was then traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves. He led the Timberwolves to the 1997 and 1998 playoffs along with Kevin Garnett. He was traded to the New Jersey Nets at the end of 1999 after a feud with the coaches regarding his role in the offense.

In 2001 he was traded to the Phoenix Suns, where he helped the team for qualification to the playoffs in 2003. In 2004 he was traded to the New York Knicks; he made a transition on the team and led them to the playoffs with spectacular performances. He was part of the US Dream Team in the 2004 Olympic Games. However, even with the talent that he has, Marbury’s popularity has been declining due to his altercates with coaches.

About the Author

Audrey Nolan is a top senior copy writer on NBA games and sports action for the sportsbook www.instantactionsports.com/ Feel free to reprint this article in its entirety on your site, make sure to leave all links in place and do not modify any of the content.

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