The Week That Was: Marbury on way out, but not there

The third week of the NBA season will be remembered for:

1. Stephon Marbury lost nearly $200,000 in salary because he took Isiah Thomas' bait. New York's president and head coach is doing whatever he can to distance himself from his first mistake, a point guard who has never won anything but personal accolades at the NBA level and who has failed in his Zeke-engineered homecoming. Thomas wanted to make a big splash by bringing a city hero home but never expected to clash with Marbury as much as he has. In benching him right before the Phoenix game Tuesday, he pushed a button that destroyed an already weakened relationship, sending Marbury farther over the edge. The Knicks organization can't seriously believe they can move on with this animosity in place and make a playoff run, but then again, given recent events, you can't put anything past them.

Don't expect Stephon Marbury to end up with LeBron. (AP)

2. If Marbury is bought out, count Cleveland out as one of his suitors. Although LeBron James certainly can use some help, he doesn't want it from Starbury, whose career started going downhill when he asked out of Minnesota because he couldn't handle playing second fiddle to Kevin Garnett. Even if Danny Ferry was entertaining the possibility -- word I've gotten is he wasn't -- James killed any chance of that happening with a simple statement: "I don't know him that well, but I couldn't have a guy like that on my team." Doesn't know him, doesn't want to.

3. Another Kobe Bryant trade rumor hit the fan, this time suggesting that Mr. Laker shot down a deal to Detroit that would've sent Richard Hamilton,Tayshaun Prince, Amir Johnson and a first-rounder to L.A. in exchange for his services. Taking nothing away from Kobe's magical abilities, but it would be awfully hard to veto something that was never seriously discussed and never saw the light of day past a brief training camp conversation. The report was totally bogus, so it appears that the Bryant saga will live on another week. With Chicago in L.A. on Sunday and the Bulls struggling mightily, don't be surprised to see some new "news" pop up.

4. Dwyane Wade played his first game of the season and looked pretty strong in a loss to Seattle, re-joining a Heat team that 62-year old Pat Riley thinks he's good enough to crack, replaced hip and all. Miami has hit rock bottom at 1-7, including losses in all four of its home games.

5. Speaking of rock bottom, Chicago fell to 1-6 after a tough loss in Phoenix but does have some positives to draw from after hanging with the Suns for 3½ quarters. Kirk Hinrich finally got his offense going, scoring 17 points after being held to single digits in four of his previous five games. Ben Wallace had 10 rebounds in 23 minute, but still looks out of shape.

6. Phil Jackson is really bad at saying he's sorry. His backhanded slap of ESPN during his "apology" for "making an issue" out of his Brokeback Mountain comment was funnier than the comment itself, right down to where he included horses and Texans among anyone might have been offended with his off-color remark following Tuesday's loss to San Antonio.

7. Tracy McGrady, at the time the NBA's leading scorer, suffered a sprained right elbow and nerve irritation in the second quarter of a loss to the Lakers on Wednesday. MRI tests revealed no tendon or ligament damage, so the Rockets breathed a sigh of relief despite being forced to take on San Antonio and Phoenix without him over the weekend.

8. Golden State became the only team without a victory when the SuperSonics and Timberwolves won Wednesday night. The Warriors looked like they would make it a clean sweep for the winless when they surged out to a 22-point lead against Detroit in the opening half, including a 40-point first quarter. But the Pistons rallied to win 111-104. Sunday, the day Stephen Jackson finally comes off league-mandated suspension, can't come soon enough.

9. James recorded the most prolific triple-double the NBA has seen since Wilt Chamberlain scored 53 points, grabbed 32 rebounds and notched 14 assists in 1968. Forced to go overtime against Orlando, James wound up with 39 points, 13 rebounds and 14 assists, but his Cavs lost 117-116. And no, he still doesn't want any help from Marbury.

Statements of the week: Dallas remained perfect with point guard Devin Harris in the starting lineup by thrashing San Antonio on Thursday night. Harris, who the Mavericks consider untouchable because they feel his speed makes him one of the few players in the NBA capable of keeping up with Tony Parker, scored 18 points while holding the reigning Finals MVP to 1-for-11 shooting.

• Chris Paul took it to one of the best point guards of all time -- New Jersey's Jason Kidd -- scoring 27 points and beating the Nets on an acrobatic layup with 2.6 seconds left to break an 82-82 tie. Healthy again, CP3 has led New Orleans to a share of the Western Conference's best record through nine games.

• Boston moved to 7-0 with a 91-69 win over New Jersey on Wednesday, recording its fastest start in 35 years. That 1972 team, led by John Havilicek, JoJo White, Dave Cowens and Paul Silas, won a franchise-record 68 games.

Week's All-Star Team: F LeBron James, Cleveland (33 ppg, 7 rpg, 9 apg), F Carlos Boozer, Utah (27.5 ppg, 12 rpg), C Dwight Howard, Orlando (24 ppg, 14 rpg, 3.5 bpg), G Gilbert Arenas, Washington (30 ppg, 6 rpg, 11 apg), G Joe Johnson, Atlanta (34 ppg, 5 rpg, 10 apg).