Feeling sympathy for Stephon Marbury is not something that comes easily. Ever since he forced a trade away from Kevin Garnett and Minnesota, Marbury has been the poster child for me-first basketball and turned out to be one of the bigger wastes of basketball talent since the cocaine era of the '80's. He's also become the poster child for everything that's gone wrong with the Knicks over the last decade.
All that said, every time Mike D'Antoni opens his mouth to discuss the situation a weird sensation of sympathy for Marbury hits. It's the false brotherhood that the coach tries to put forth that really burns. Every time D'Antoni says he hates the situation that Marbury's in, he's trying to sound understanding and empathetic. He isn't, though, because when you're the architect of a bad situation you can't sit there and say it's a bad design.
Then there's the question of whether D'Antoni suggested Marbury play or ordered him to play. There shouldn't be much question surrounding what happened. But D'Antoni's public "one of the guys" patter makes it easy to see how he could have said "I'd like to play you tonight" instead of "You are playing tonight." Semantics, to be sure, but contracts and laws are all about semantics.
Finally, there's his response to Marbury's assertion that D'Antoni never had any intention of playing him.
"I hate that. I don't think anybody is thrilled with where anybody is, but that's not really true. But again, I'm sure he feels that way and I can understand."
It's shocking that he could keep a straight face while saying that. If Marbury had been given a fair chance, been evaluated on his play in preseason and been, in any way, part of the team's plans, then he would be playing. It's just that simple. We know that D'Antoni made this call on his own since Donnie Walsh was surprised to find out Marbury was neither playing nor on the active roster, so why the obfuscation?
Many of us have worked for someone we didn't trust. It's not fun, nor is dealing with someone who feeds you cyanide and tells you that it's good for you. D'Antoni's playing both roles for Marbury, which is why there's some sympathy for the most unsympathetic character since Anton Chigurh.
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The Knicks have bungled this from day one. D'Antoni should have been clear that Marbury had no chance of setting foot on the court with the team and should never have gone back on it, no matter the state of the team. There are no heroes in this little saga, but D'Antoni should stop trying to be one of the boys and act like the boss that he's supposed to be.
