duncan228
02-23-2009, 09:20 PM
Marbury arbitration hearing set for Tuesday (http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=txknicksmarbury&prov=st&type=lgns)
The New York Knicks and Stephon Marbury will go before an arbitrator Tuesday over a $400,000 fine the enigmatic guard incurred for insubordination in late November.
“We’re going to the hearing. We didn’t initiate it, but we’re going to go,” Knicks president Donnie Walsh told reporters prior to Monday’s game against the Indiana Pacers.
Marbury, 31, has not played this season and was banished by the Knicks on December 1 after the mercurial guard and Walsh failed to resolve their ongoing feud. Marbury was fined for refusing to enter a game against the Detroit Pistons on November 26.
“It’s not a great situation for anybody,” said Knicks coach Mike D’Antoni, who will miss Tuesday’s practice to testify.
“I hate it for Steph. I hate it for the Knicks. I hate it for everybody. But it’s just something we’re doing and we’ll deal with it and get it over with. There’s a lot worse things in the world going on, so we’ll just deal with the problem and do the best we can.”
The crux of the situation is this: the Knicks won’t play him, and Marbury wants out.
Marbury has offered to give back $1 million of the remaining $21 million on his contract, which runs out this summer, and drop the appeal of the fine if the team releases him.
Marbury said last month he has a verbal agreement to join the defending world champion Boston Celtics, but that the Knicks will not agree on a buyout because they do not want him to win a championship.
The Celtics have not commented on the situation.
When asked if he would workout a buyout at the hearing Walsh responded: “No, no, no.”
Marbury will take the offer off the table on March 1, when he would no longer be eligible to be on a playoff roster. Walsh was asked about the possibility of resolving the situation before then.
“We’ll see,” he said. “I haven’t an answer for that.”
The ugly feud began when Marbury was benched by coach Mike D’Antoni for the first three weeks of the season. The Brooklyn native then was fined after refusing to play when the Knicks’ roster was severely shortened by injuries and trades.
A lifelong Knicks fan, Marbury has been one of the central figures for a franchise that deteriorated under former coach Isiah Thomas into one the biggest laughingstocks in American professional sports.
In the summer of 2007, Marbury testified in court when former Knicks executive Anucha Browne Sanders filed an $11.6 million sexual harassment lawsuit against Thomas and Madison Square Garden.
During his testimony, Marbury admitted to making derogatory comments about Sanders while revealing that he had sex with an MSG intern in a truck outside a strip club in 2005.
Widely considered a selfish player, Marbury has failed to mesh with numerous star teammates throughout his career, including Kevin Garnett, Shawn Marion, Keith Van Horn, Allan Houston and Steve Francis.
D’Antoni to miss practice for Marbury hearing (http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=ap-knicks-marbury&prov=ap&type=lgns)
The New York Knicks and Stephon Marbury will go before an arbitrator Tuesday over a $400,000 fine the enigmatic guard incurred for insubordination in late November.
“We’re going to the hearing. We didn’t initiate it, but we’re going to go,” Knicks president Donnie Walsh told reporters prior to Monday’s game against the Indiana Pacers.
Marbury, 31, has not played this season and was banished by the Knicks on December 1 after the mercurial guard and Walsh failed to resolve their ongoing feud. Marbury was fined for refusing to enter a game against the Detroit Pistons on November 26.
“It’s not a great situation for anybody,” said Knicks coach Mike D’Antoni, who will miss Tuesday’s practice to testify.
“I hate it for Steph. I hate it for the Knicks. I hate it for everybody. But it’s just something we’re doing and we’ll deal with it and get it over with. There’s a lot worse things in the world going on, so we’ll just deal with the problem and do the best we can.”
The crux of the situation is this: the Knicks won’t play him, and Marbury wants out.
Marbury has offered to give back $1 million of the remaining $21 million on his contract, which runs out this summer, and drop the appeal of the fine if the team releases him.
Marbury said last month he has a verbal agreement to join the defending world champion Boston Celtics, but that the Knicks will not agree on a buyout because they do not want him to win a championship.
The Celtics have not commented on the situation.
When asked if he would workout a buyout at the hearing Walsh responded: “No, no, no.”
Marbury will take the offer off the table on March 1, when he would no longer be eligible to be on a playoff roster. Walsh was asked about the possibility of resolving the situation before then.
“We’ll see,” he said. “I haven’t an answer for that.”
The ugly feud began when Marbury was benched by coach Mike D’Antoni for the first three weeks of the season. The Brooklyn native then was fined after refusing to play when the Knicks’ roster was severely shortened by injuries and trades.
A lifelong Knicks fan, Marbury has been one of the central figures for a franchise that deteriorated under former coach Isiah Thomas into one the biggest laughingstocks in American professional sports.
In the summer of 2007, Marbury testified in court when former Knicks executive Anucha Browne Sanders filed an $11.6 million sexual harassment lawsuit against Thomas and Madison Square Garden.
During his testimony, Marbury admitted to making derogatory comments about Sanders while revealing that he had sex with an MSG intern in a truck outside a strip club in 2005.
Widely considered a selfish player, Marbury has failed to mesh with numerous star teammates throughout his career, including Kevin Garnett, Shawn Marion, Keith Van Horn, Allan Houston and Steve Francis.
D’Antoni to miss practice for Marbury hearing (http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=ap-knicks-marbury&prov=ap&type=lgns)