Sabotage? Mike D's Starbury stance gets downright mean

Some people, smart people, stick up for whales or eagles or Sarah Palin. Helping the hapless is a sign of strength. Plus it's easy.

Me, I'm weak. And stupid. Must be, because I'm sticking up for Stephon Marbury.

Is Stephon Marbury serving time for past transgressions? (Getty Images)

Shocks the heck out of me, too, but here I am, and I'll tell you what put me here: A story last week from New York that described Marbury sitting on the Knicks' bench -- not in a Knicks jersey but in a rugby shirt, because Knicks coach Mike D'Antoni is willing to trot out Marbury like a show dog but won't let him play or even practice. As if Marbury's a contagious disease that could be passed from teammate to teammate.

And maybe he is. Maybe Marbury is every bit the bad teammate, and bad guy, that D'Antoni is making him out to be.

My question, my problem, is not with the discipline in this instance, but with the disciplinarian.

Why Mike D'Antoni?

Why him?

Near as I can tell, Marbury hasn't done anything to D'Antoni, certainly not since D'Antoni joined the Knicks. If Marbury has done something to D'Antoni, it's time for D'Antoni to come clean. If not, the Knicks could cut Marbury loose. Release him. Buy out his contract. Something. The longer this goes on, the more D'Antoni looks like a bully. He's starting to make Stephon Marbury a (gulp) sympathetic figure.

Don't tell me D'Antoni is keeping quiet to protect Marbury's trade value, because benching him has already ruined it. Marbury's history -- losing has followed him like stink -- hasn't helped, either. He lost with the T-Wolves. He lost with the Nets. The Suns didn't become a dominant team until they unloaded him midway through the 2003-04 season. Marbury went to the Knicks, where he has lost and lost and lost. He has lost for coach Lenny Wilkens. He has lost for Herb Williams. He has lost for Larry Brown and Isiah Thomas.

He will not lose for Mike D'Antoni. D'Antoni won't allow it, and the Marbury-less Knicks are in fact winning without their highest-salaried player. So maybe this whole thing is supposed to make sense to me: Marbury is a bad guy or a bad teammate or both, and D'Antoni is making a stand. Maybe D'Antoni should be celebrated.

But I can't celebrate this, just like I couldn't celebrate the idea of a teenager kicking an annoying cat. This cat, this Stephon Marbury, is self-centered and irritating -- but he isn't malicious. He isn't Latrell Sprewell choking a coach or saying he can't feed his family on a meager millionaire's salary. He isn't Bruce Bowen kicking opposing players between the legs. He isn't Chris Andersen getting banished from the league for using drugs, or J.R. Smith getting involved in an on-court brawl, an off-court brawl and a traffic accident that left a man dead.

All of those players, with the exception of Sprewell, are playing in the NBA this season. Marbury's not.

Marbury is guilty, and has always been guilty, of only one thing: He's all about Marbury. He walks that way. He talks that way. He certainly plays that way. And if you think that's enough of a crime to be publicly emasculated, as D'Antoni has publicly emasculated Marbury, fine. Send D'Antoni a card. Tell him how strong he is.