SUSPENSION?
STEPHON MARBURY CAME INTO THE SEASON 20 LBS LIGHTER, AND HEALTHY. READY TO PLAY, WITH A NEW COACH AND FAMILIAR FACES. FUNNY HOW THINGS GO IN A TOTALLY DIFFERENT DIRECTION IN THE BLINK OF AN EYE. SINCE THEN, MIKE D’ANTONI AND DONNIE WALSH HAVE NOT ALLOWED MARBURY TO PLAY, AND THE KNICKS ORGANIZATION HAS OPEN UP SALARY CAP SPACE. GETTING RID OF JAMAL CRAWFORD, ZACH RANDOLPH AND MARDY COLLINS AND GETTING TIM THOMAS, CUTTINO MOBLEY AND AL HARRINGTON.
ACCORDING TO D’ANTONI, MARBURY DIDN’T FIT INTO THE KNICKS OFFENSE AND DID NOT GO WELL WITH THE DIRECTION THE TEAM WAS TAKING. SO HE SAT, GAME AFTER GAME. RECENTLY, MIKE D’ANTONI ASKED HIM IF HE WANTED TO PLAY, STEPHONE SUPPOSEDLY DENIED TO OFFER. DONNIE WALSH RESPONDS BY “SUSPENDING” MARBURY FOR ONE GAME AND FINING HIM $400,000 DOLLARS.
NOW LET ME GET THIS STRAIGHT….YOU DONT ALLOW HIM TO PLAY BUT STILL PAY HIM HIS SALARY(MARBURY IS THE 2ND HIGHEST PAID PLAYER IN THE NBA MAKING $22 MILLION THIS YEAR), ASK HIM TO PLAY LATER ON AND WHEN HE REFUSES YOU FINE HIM AND SUSPEND HIM? HOW DO YOU SUSPEND SOMEONE WHO IS ALREADY NOT PLAYING? THE KNICKS ARE GETTING ON MY NERVES, BUT AT THE SAME TIME THEYRE MY HOME TEAM. HOPEFULLY SOMETHING POSITIVE COMES OUT OF THIS.
THIS WAS DONNIE WALSH’S STATEMENT:
“A player’s central obligation is to provide his professional services when called upon,” team president Donnie Walsh said in a statement.
“Because he refused the coach’s request to play in the team’s last game, we had no choice but to impose disciplinary action.”
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