Marbury Refuses to Play, and the Knicks Have Had Enough

By TOM ZILLER and FANHOUSE.COM

Updated 12:36 PM EST, Thu, Nov 27, 2008

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The Great Knickerbocker Rebirth of 2008 didn't come without a whole new set of immediate issues for Mike D'Antoni. The trades announced last Friday sent away New York's best guard and a young combo off the bench. In return: two forwards and a two-guard with heart issues that have scared the Knicks into forcing more tests before allowing him to play. Nate Robinson injured his groin earlier this week, leaving New York with a severe guard deficit.

For the second time in a week, D'Antoni asked Stephon Marbury to play big minutes out of necessity. So desperate is D'Antoni, reports Marc Berman of the New York Post, that the coach offered Starbury his old starting job.

Starbury declined.

So the Knicks went with two guards healthy -- Chris Duhon and Anthony Roberson. Quentin Richardson (a forward) started at the two, and Wilson Chandler received some time there as well. Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! reports that D'Antoni is pushing for Marbury to be suspended and barred from being around the team. Woj also has a source who said this is the straw breaking the proverbial camel's back, and James Dolan may suck it up and waive Starbury without a discount.

That'd be the best solution for all involved. Of course, it was also the best solution back in October. Nothing good could come from letting the Starbury affair fester inside Madison Square Garden. It didn't take an oracle to figure that one out.