The Incredible Mismanagement Of Stephon Marbury

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.s31t

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"Cartoon Character”

“King of Fools”

“He is a loser”.

These were some of the early media descriptions of Stephon Marbury after he parted ways with the Knicks to join the Celtics. If Marbury is a “cartoon character”, we can thank our sports media for drawing the daily comic strip. For those innocent souls who have so mistakenly bought into the cartoon journalism, then... "You Don't Know Marbury"!

If he is also a “loser”, we can thank a misleading media once again [1]. We are told how his former teams improved “after he left”, but not that those overall rosters also improved [2]. Sure, after two playoff appearances with Minnesota, Marbury would play on many losing teams. But how often have we read how those same rosters fared without Marbury?

41% - winning % of his games after leaving Minnesota 29% - winning % (62-152) of those teams in his absence [3].

Translation: Marbury has played on some god-awful teams!…

But that’s a whole other article about the “Evan Eschmeyer Era”… This article is about this:

Stephon Xavier Marbury is the most mismanaged, miscoached, and misunderstood Knick talent that I have ever seen [4].

Please allow Bill Simmons to warm us up:

“As a basketball fan, I can't fathom why the Clippers would sign Baron [Davis] then bog him down in a half-court offense. It's like hiring Simon Cowell to judge a reality show then preventing him from being mean.” – Bill Simmons

As a basketball fan, I know exactly how you feel Bill. And welcome to Marbury-land Baron, and sorry about your shooting drop from 43% to 36%. Maybe one day coach Dunleavy will allow you to call your own plays again like Nellie once did. Maybe he will also break up that clogged Clipper frontcourt next year. Or maybe your next four years will be just like Steph’s last four. Let’s hope not…

Much has been written about Marbury’s feuds with past coaches, and everyone has an opinion [4]. However, this analysis is strictly X’s and O’s. It’s time for some real basketball questions:

1) Why would you start line-ups that minimize or eliminate the exceptional skills of your best player?

2) How can you justify taking the ball out of the hands of your best point guard?

3) How on mother earth does an elite “penetrate-and-dish” point guard go his entire career without playing alongside top 3-point shooters?… or even just good ones?

Before answering these questions let’s first revisit our main Knick characters. No, not current Knick coach Mike D’Antoni. His inexplicable benching of Marbury was simply the culmination of coaching that Larry Brown started and Isiah Thomas perfected. Brown and Thomas were once former all-star point-guards in the ABA and NBA. Instead of coaching Stephon according to his strengths, each coached him to THEIR strengths. The only Knick coach that ever grasped Marbury’s exceptional skills was that other former all-star point guard: Lenny Wilkens.

Stephon and His Knick Coaches

Stephon: Marbury’s success begins with his ability to penetrate, draw double-teams, score, or find the open man on a crisp kick out. He is not a “pure point guard” in the mold of Jason Kidd or Steve Nash, but resembles that third all-star PG on that 1996 Suns team: Kevin Johnson. Just like KJ, Marbury could destroy his man off the dribble; use his strength; finish strong; pass; get to the line; run the fast break well; and excel at running tightly executed pick-and-rolls, and pick-and-pops. This type of point-guard is usually maximized with one strong low-post threat, floor-spacing shooters (more than slashers), and two “dirty-work” guys who don’t need the ball. While KJ would consistently have players that complemented his strengths [5]. Marbury’s post-Minnesota career would be the exact opposite.

Lenny – Right Coach, Wrong Talent: All-time wins leader Wilkens was hired in January 2004 just days after trading for Marbury. At the time GM Isiah said Lenny was “the perfect person” to coach Stephon, and he was right. Prior to Steph’s arrival, this old slow Knicks team was 14 -21, and its only top player (Allan Houston) had bum knees and a pending retirement. Enter instant turnaround. Marbury and Wilkens would lead the team to a 25 – 22 finish and into the playoffs while averaging 20 points and 9.3 assists. The following year, Stephon would average 22 points and 8.1 assists with an efficient 46% shooting. Because the team won only 33 games, Marbury’s greatest career season went unnoticed on a squad that had no business winning 23. With the exception of fast breaks, Wilkens would harness all of Marbury’s strengths. However, Isiah would fire him at midseason, leaving him with a 40-41 record as a Knicks coach (succeeded by Herb Williams).

Larry – Young Talent, Wrong Coach: Brown arrived to NYC with a special media moniker never afforded to Wilkens: “Hall-of-Fame Coach”. The shield title – repeated ad nauseum – had a distinct purpose: “Larry Brown was always right.” Just check the resume. Unlike Wilkens, Pat Riley, and other great coaches, Brown is a great coach like Jack Nicholson is a great actor – he only plays one role. Seasoned veterans? Brown might land a championship. Young players? Brown might blow an Olympic gold medal [6]. Brown decided to forget coaching that season in favor of his mantra to “play the right way” – even if that way meant losing. “Play the right way” was much more than a phrase -- it was a stand. It symbolized a basketball, generational, and racial “culture war” where everyone took a side. Where Wilkens saw amazing talent worth harnessing, Brown saw a point guard who did not play the position “the right way”. So Brown basically tried to turn him into Eric Snow. An often mechanical looking Marbury would post career low stats, and Brown would produce a 23-59 record.

Isiah – Best Talent, Wrong Coach: After inheriting possibly the worst roster in NBA history (no hyperbole), Isiah received brutally unfair criticism for his tenure as Knicks GM. That criticism should have been reserved for Isiah the coach. His famous benching of Marbury would overshadow his dysfunctional starting line-ups, head-scratching substitution patterns, and few set plays beyond “can Jamal or Nate take his man off the dribble?”. After an adequate first year (33-49) that involved key injuries, the second year was like watching ball at Rucker Park – except with fewer team assists. Finishing where Larry started, Thomas would render Marbury useless.

CRIME #1: LINE-UP LUNACY - From 42 to 45

Lenny: The 2004 turnaround was a remarkable feat considering that year’s most common starting line-up was 1) Marbury; 2) Shandon Anderson; 3) Tim Thomas; 4) Kurt Thomas; 5) Nazr Mohammed. While most were usually bench players for other teams, together with Marbury, the Thomas-Thomas-Mohammed frontline was 30-31 over two seasons. Tim could still help spread the floor, Kurt brought gritty defense and his best season of rebounding, and Nazr would play his finest ball in his career. Marbury was particularly efficient at running 15-foot “pick and pops” with teammates like Kurt, Nazr, and Keith Van Horn (before Nazr). He even made Michael Doleac look good. Was this frontline talented? No. Good floor balance? Yes. The entire frontline would soon be traded traded for long-term benefit [7].

Larry: Mad scientist Brown would: start a front-line of shot vets over promising youngsters; give no steady minute patterns; and set an NBA record with 42 line-ups. That year’s lone bright spot brought a 6-game winning streak where Marbury started alongside rookies Nate Robinson and David Lee. The latter two would soon find themselves into Brown’s infamous rookie doghouse, out of the starting line-up, and receiving 30 or three minutes on any given night. Lee, in particular, would be underutilized by both Brown and Thomas. That year, Marbury’s injuries would leave the Knicks 5-17 without him. If Larry could never make up his mind about line-ups, Isiah could never change his.

Isiah: Starting Marbury alongside a 5-scorer line-up is absurd. Starting Eddy Curry and Zach Randolph together is absurd. Starting a can’t-shoot-unrecovered-from-surgery Q Richardson is absurd. Doing all of the above requires a new word… Don’t spread the floor. Check. Clog up the middle. Check. Eliminate point-guard penetration. Check. Eliminate ball movement. Check. Duplicate defensive liabilities. Check. Blame it all on your point guard. Check… Despite plenty of better fits on the bench, Isiah would not break Eddy-Zach-Q frontline for four months! The Knicks would get crushed every first quarter, but magically play teams even in the 2nd quarter (check the stats). If the number 42 is Brown’s Knick coaching legacy, Isiah’s should be 45: the amount of games that Eddy-Zach-Q started together.

Stephon: Eddy-Zach joined the Marbury-Steve Francis backcourt as Isiah’s second disastrous starting pair. Injuries had robbed Francis of his once great athleticism, but not his head-down-ball-stopping style. In 2006 the Knicks rolled out to a 7-14 record before Isiah decided to bench Francis. For the next 41 games or half-a-season Marbury and Eddy Curry would lead the Knicks to a 21-19 record before injuries to Lee, Jamal, and Q would end their playoff hopes (and bring return of Francis as starter). The young team was running, exciting, and even losing heart breakers with passion. The media would often credit Marbury’s suddenly new “leadership”, or claim that the December 2006 fight with Denver “brought the team together”. The truth? A simple line-up change. In 2005-2006:

Marbury with Francis: 12 points on 38% shooting

Marbury w/o Francis: 18 points on 44% shooting

During this same time, Eddy Curry’s dominance would also rise. Marbury – starving for an inside presence since his Suns playoff year with rookie Amare Stoudemire was more than happy to play second-fiddle. By that summer Stephon would say:

“This is Eddy Curry's team, not Steph's team. This is Eddy Curry's team, and we all have to understand that.”

CRIME #2: COACHING CRAZINESS - Jamal is Not A Point Guard!

By 2007-2008, it was neither Eddy nor Steph’s team – it was Jamal’s team. Crawford’s ankle-breaking crossover, and monthly career game scoring outbursts often worked to seduce fans into thinking one-night-stands might ever become true love. Coupled with his mature off court demeanor and poised interviews, it also seemed to work on his coaches. It seemed as if one play was called in any close game: Jamal-take-man-off-dribble-from-top-of-key. The play calling became so ludicrous that one game the Knicks would lose in overtime as Crawford missed his final 12 shots including the final three taken in regulation. Such an instance is symbolic of both Isiah’s and Larry’s coaching of Crawford. There was none.

Worst of all, both coaches also decided that Marbury share ball-handling duties with Jamal as was once done with Francis. Insanity… Let’s start here.

Marbury Assists Per Game:

9.0 - under Lenny

6.4 - under Larry

5.3 - under Isiah

In Stephon’s first two years under Lenny, the Knicks averaged more than 20 assists per game despite inferior team talent. Under Larry (17.9) and Isiah (18.7) the Knicks were dead last in NBA assists. Transferring partial point-guard duties did not just hurt Stephon – it hurt the Knicks. Having Jamal bring the ball up meant less team assists, less ball movement, less-fatigued opponents, and less wins. On the plus side, Jamal did throw nice alley-oops to Curry. On the down side, Jamal is a low percentage shooter, is a poor finisher near the rim, does not get to the line much, and can barely run the pick-and-roll. Most importantly, he doesn’t draw double-teams on his drives. Jamal can only break down his man, but Marbury can break down team defenses.

By last year, the combination of crazy line-ups, reduced ball-handling, and even the abandonment of two-man pick plays [8] would make Marbury more liability than asset. The coaching of Thomas and Brown was so perplexing that fan theories of sabotage were just as likely as coach incompetence. The most benign explanation just might be this: Marbury as a ball dominating point guard offended Brown’s “pure-point-guard” sensibilities, and Isiah could never accept that the double-point backcourt just might fail if the other guy isn’t named Joe Dumars.

CRIME #3: MANAGEMENT MANGLING - Where are the 3-Point Shooters?

In sports it’s like peanut butter and jelly. Pair a great quarterback with a great wide-receiver (sorry Donovan); get a great hitter some back-up protection (sorry Barry), and get an elite “drive-and-dish” point guard some 3-point shooters.

With a one year exception of Kerry Kittles (Nets), Marbury never started alongside another sharp-shooting guard. Beyond one season, his best two 3-point shooters were forwards Keith Van Horn (Nets), and Shawn Marion (Suns) – neither of whom could shoot prior to his arrival. In his two full seasons with Stephon, Marion would shoot 39% from behind the arc, but never higher than 34% in any other season despite playing with both Kidd and Nash.

The minute he arrived to the Knicks, Marbury’s drives to the hoop had amazing results. Spreading the floor widened Marbury’s penetration lanes, and in-turn, his ability to break down defenses aided those shooters right back. Stephon’s kick-outs often began an “around the horn” passing sequence that resulted in no assist, but three points. As a result, every single Knicks long range shooter benefited:

3-Point Shooting Before and After Marbury Trade (2003-2004 season):

Allan Houston: 38% to 51%

Keith Van Horn: 31% to 46%

Tim Thomas: 36% to 41%

Shandon Anderson: 24% to 34%

It is amazing what can happen when a hand is removed from one’s face! Sadly, Houston would only get to play 38 total games with Marbury, and the Knicks would never sign a top long-range shooter after him [9]. That no GM actively and deliberately sought to spread the floor for Marbury is a crime of NBA management.

Perhaps it was because so few could see through awful rosters, the villainizing journalism, and their own “pure point guard” biases to realize that:

Stephon makes his teammates better.

It just has to be the right teammates.

No, he won’t make Crawford better. Jamal, reliant only on his crossover, will shoot 41% with the Bulls, the Knicks, the Warriors, or the Showtime Lakers. No, he won’t make Randolph better. Zach will get his 20 whether Stephon, Baron, or Mardy Collins throws that entry pass. And he definitely won’t make Steve Francis better… But he made the entire 2004 Knicks much better. During the few glimpses of sensible line-ups, he also made Eddy Curry, Channing Frye, David Lee, and Nate Robinson better. A prime Marbury would not just make the currently constructed Orlando Magic better, but possibly champions. Ditto for a younger Allan Houston coupled with an older Ewing.

Sorry Larry, there are no “right ways” to play the point, just “right systems”. Says Marbury’s newest coach and former point guard Doc Rivers: “I never thought he was a pure point guard”. Nor does he care, even if Marbury has lost a step.

This is just how it goes with point guards. High-flyers like Vince Carter, Richard Jefferson, and Kenyon Martin will thrive under Jason Kidd – but Josh Howard won’t. Steve Nash goes from a borderline all-star to a borderline Hall-of-Famer -- just by changing his coach. Gary Payton (at any age) goes from an all-star to bum should you reduce him to a spot-up shooter role in a triangle offense. Styles make fights, styles make perceptions, and when misunderstood by media -- styles make villains. But…

What if Joe Dumars spent his whole career with the Pistons cast that averaged 24 wins in back-to-back seasons from 93-95?

What if John Stockton was told to be great, but just forget that whole “pick-and-roll” thing?

What if Baron Davis never gets to runs the break or drive to the hoop again?

And if a player like Stephon Marbury can reach a .500 plateau with the right system and the wrong talent, what could he have done if equipped with both?

These are the real questions we should be asking. Even if it might take away from our favorite “cartoon character”.

Notes:

[1] Marbury’s rookie season helped bring the Timberwolves a 14-game improvement and first-ever playoff berth, but his departure began the “selfish” label. In New Jersey, a “loser” label was added, but few reminders that he joined a 3-16 squad. His Suns experience would not be defined by the respectable 2003 playoff showing, but their poor start the following injury-plagued year. Despite averaging over eight assists per game, all of the above would contribute to a “Marbury-as-selfish” narrative before playing a single Knick game.

[2] Marbury's old teams were followed by the era’s best two point guards, but few reports that Jason Kidd and Steve Nash also received vastly improved rosters. The Nets did not just receive Kidd, but had Kerry Kittles return from injury, had Kenyon Martin move past rookie year growing pains, and drafted Richard Jefferson. The Suns actually got worse after Marbury left. The following year they signed Nash, had Amare return past his second year injuries, and had a maturing Joe Johnson. By comparing Marbury’s tenure to overhauled rosters, Steve Nash is also loser because his Dallas Mavericks team went to the finals “after he left”.

[3] The 29% winning percentage takes into account his games missed due to injuries and how his past/new teams fared without him from the two midseason trades. Marbury’s winning totals while playing: New Jersey (66-106), Phoenix (92-105), and New York (113-174). Winning totals in Marbury’s absence: Nets (7-35); Suns (17-32); Knicks (38-85).

[4] A friend tells me of Marbury’s coaching feuds: “if you get into five car accidents, then you are a bad driver!” This makes sense on the surface, but is overly simplistic. Marbury is not blameless by any stretch, but he is both perpetrator and victim. Firstly, Marbury’s last three coaches (D’Antoni, Thomas, Brown) all have their own share of car accidents (Brown’s license should have been revoke 20 years ago!). More accurately, Marbury is that kid with a past felony on his record and cops know full well that they could treat him any way they choose while receiving immunity. His last three coaches all knowingly took advantage of this power dynamic in initiating unfair treatment while Marbury’s reactions to feeling wronged would often help their cause.

[5] After trading for KJ in 1988, the Suns soon signed a big man complement in all-star Tom Chambers. KJ would run the pick-and-roll all day and night with Chambers when not driving-and-dishing to sharp-shooters like Hornacek and Eddie Johnson. Those latter two names marked an entire career that featured two long-range marksmen (also Dan Majerle, Danny Ainge, Wesley Person, Rex Chapman, etc) for KJ to spread the floor. In a couple of years, the Suns would sign Charles Barkley and go from a perennial playoff team to legitimate title contenders.

[6] After winning a championship with the Detroit Pistons , Brown would fail to win the Olympic Gold medal. Most notably, he would leave a young Lebron James and Carmelo Anthony on the bench while Lamar Odom and Richard Jefferson logged heavy minutes.

[7] Seeking youth and athleticism, Isiah soon traded the entire frontline in what eventually netted David Lee, Nate Robinson, Eddy Curry, and Wilson Chandler.

[8] Isiah virtually abandoned the pick play in favor of one-on-one play by his second year. Gone was Channing Frye’s floor-spacing an occasional pick-and-pops, and in came Zach – the starting line-ups third ball-stopping vacuum. Like Eddy, Zach is only effective for a team as the only low post presence. Marbury was essentially reduced to throwing entry passes – and not very good ones at that.

[9] In Brown and Isiah’s tenure, the best 3-point shooter would be Nate Robinson, but he and Marbury would rarely play together – presumably for defensive reasons. When not bothered by his back injuries, Quentin Richardson is still only an adequate shooter.
 

Yankees2772

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I don't get it - didn't you just switch from Celtics fan to Lakers fan, and now you're back?
 

.s31t

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I don't get it - didn't you just switch from Celtics fan to Lakers fan, and now you're back?
Ive been a laker fan since i was 5.
i support coney island products.
i liked steph when he was pho, nj.
i like bassy so ill watch minny...

ya digg?

can u like certain players or is that a problem?
 

Yankees2772

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You were a "die hard" Blazers fan, Celtics fan, Timberwolves fan, and Lakers fan within a 3 month span.
 

.s31t

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You were a "die hard" Blazers fan, Celtics fan, Timberwolves fan, and Lakers fan within a 3 month span.
epic fail...
can you watch other teams or players?
Can you even have a fav five?
Or do you devote urself to one team...

All I am fukkin saying is i like stephon marbury...
what he does for coney and <Censored>...
can i like a player for who he is and not the team he is on?
 

.s31t

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“YOU DON’T KNOW STEPHON MARBURY”[/b

”THE QUINTESSENTIAL SELFISH ATHLETE”

You want to talk about Stephon Marbury’s exile from the Knicks… after not jumping at the opportunity for playing time offered by Mike D’Antoni. Yeah, you want to talk about ”he said-he said”, Marbury’s “unprofessionalism”, that he is — as one ESPN pundit said this week — “the quintessential selfish athlete”. That’s right. You want to talk about his selfishness — not his selflessness. Fine, soon enough. But to truly understand Stephon-the-player, we must first understand Marbury-the-man. Simply put:

Stephon Marbury is an American hero and sports’ greatest humanitarian [1]. And only in America — and its cartoonized world of sports coverage — can he become a villain.

I know, I know. You want to talk about the millions of dollars Marbury is making… how he is a “rich”, “spoiled”, “ungrateful”, “diva”, “me-first” athlete. Yeah, you want to talk about the millions he makes – but not the millions he has given away. That’s right. I want to talk about the $500K that Marbury pledged to Katrina victims, or the $4 million dollars he pledged to New York City police, firefighters, EMS, and teachers. He said:

“…if it saves more lives, I’m down for that. As far as making a difference in that manner, I feel compelled to do that… After 9-11, and all the families that have lost loved ones, it was a big hit to the city and to the world… This is basically about giving back…

if you don’t know what he has given, then you don’t know Stephon Marbury.

You want to talk about the day Marbury went AWOL from the Knicks after former coach Isiah Thomas benched him. Yeah, you want to talk about that day — but not that night. That’s right, I want to talk about that night when Marbury could be found “crying like a baby”. Self-pity? Not quite. Marbury was mourning the death of long-time community mentor Robert Williams — more commonly known as Mr. Lou. Marbury — who once bought Mr. Lou a Cadillac — offered to pay for all of the funeral expenses. All this happened during Marbury’s aYeah, you just want to talk about the game – but not “the shoes”. But I want to talk about “Starbury One”, the revolutionary $15 sneaker that Dallas Mavericks owner, Mark Cuban, called “the biggest business story of the year.” Despite business growing pains [2], Marbury sowed the seeds of a movement that soon included basketball player Ben Wallace, tennis star Venus Williams, actress Sarah Jessica Parker, and others. All of a sudden newer NBA stars wanted to follow suit. Marbury said:

“The big picture is not having a $200 pair of sneakers when your mother’s income is $15,000. When you walk into a store, you are not being held hostage any more.”

If billionaire corporations like Nike have their way, then you won’t know Stephon Marbury.

ESPN doesn’t want you to know Stephon Marbury either. The man is simply too complex to fit into their “good-vs.-evil-only” sports narratives. Besides, black villains get much higher ratings than black visionaries. When Tony Romo took a homeless man to the movies last month ESPN.com was on the scene, just as it was when Romo helped a man fix a flat tire. ESPN The Magazine soon wondered: “Why is Tony Romo such a Good Samaritan?”, and all of ESPN’s afternoon shows had effusive praise culminating in one “Pardon The Interruption” (PTI) pundit exclaiming: “How can you not love Tony Romo!”

Well, here is one way: Don’t report any of his good deeds! Ignore him like you did Marbury watching the presidential debates in a homeless shelter just a month prior. Ignore his annual charity events; ignore his Katrina response; ignore his record-setting donations, and ignore that a great week in the life of Tony Romo is like breathing to Stephon Marbury. But ESPN did not report ANY of these stories. His revolutionary $15 sneaker? Pardon the Interruption had this headline: “Can Marbury repair his image?” …Well, not if ESPN keeps framing it!

Given their selective, biased, and virtually criminal coverage of his career, you really can’t be blamed if you don’t know Stephon Marbury.

Save for notable exceptions like The New York Posts’ Marc Berman [3] and Knicks website writer Tom Kertes, ESPN’s Marbury treatment has been the general media rule. Only a few blogs are talking about the real Marbury. In this Interview with The Starting Five, hip-hop legend Chuck D says:

“Stephon Marbury… provides affordable gear and went into the Coney Island area and bought up all the barber shops so kids can get free hair cuts. I’ve never heard anything as incredible as that. [He] can walk threw Coney Island and has an aura. People know he’s looked out. Nobody will touch him in the hood.”

While ESPN is writing cover stories on athletes “living scared”, they should let their readers get to know why Stephon Marbury is “living free”. In his childhood, nobody was allowed to touch Marbury either. Once his prodigious basketball talent was recognized, local drug dealers made sure that no one approached or sold to him. Marbury was protected then, and has been giving back protection ever since — with a slight twist. Stephon recognized both the virtue and flaw within that drug dealer code. About his recent million dollar pledges, he said:

“Giving the money to the teachers is important because …[they] are feeding [children] their foundation. When I hear about budget cuts as far as schools, I just don’t understand that. I mean, not when we’re trying to allow our kids to become the leaders of the world! I want to create an environment where all of our schools prepare kids to go to places such as Harvard and Yale.” lleged most selfish hour.

If media “understanding” was as popular as “condemning”, we might be told that Marbury’s human weakness are connected — if not inseparable — from his phenomenal strengths. And the crux of that connection is:

LOYALTY.

Stephon was initially loyal to his last three coaches[4]. But despite falsely promising “a clean slate” no coach treated Marbury worse than Mike D’Antoni [5]. Isiah Thomas was loyal at first until a scapegoat was needed. And career nomad Larry Brown has never been loyal to anyone but himself. They were unlike some of the great New York City coaches like Pat Riley, Joe Torre, Bill Parcells, and Jeff Van Gundy who knew the big city coaching code: 1) protect your players; 2) handle all differences in-house, and 3) always keep the NYC media tabloid vultures at bay. But Stephon was undeniably scapegoated by all three [6]. And for his part, the reactive and difficult Marbury wears scapegoatism quite well (see signature over-the-head towel).

A closer inspection of Marbury’s reaction to his coaching feuds brought up a clear pattern. Marbury used words like “trust”, “disrespect”, “personal”, and even “foxhole”. What media often dismissed as merely “petulance” revealed a much deeper emotion: it was betrayal.

Betrayal is the ugly flip-side of loyalty’s coin. Marbury is cut from a different cloth. He is not loyal to a game or a contract, he is loyal to people. While his recent coaches all have their own track-records of Marbury-like stubbornness, none match his virtues. Those probably come from his original coach and mentor: Mr. Lou. Stephon’s brother Don said: “Without Mr. Lou, there is no Stephon.” Don wasn’t just talking about basketball either.

If his recent coaches expected him to be a ”Stepford-athlete”, they didn’t know Stephon Marbury.

Another clue came a few years ago after Larry Brown complained to the press one too many times. Marbury said “enough is enough” and warned us all:

“if something’s going to be said, I’m going to defend myself. My mother taught me that. Somebody hits, you hit them back”

“Mama said knock you out!” She is the same mother who personally cooks for 40 youth after Stephon brings them to his own personal home for a weekend stay-over. Mabel Marbury (and father Don) helped instill a value system and raised Stephon to be a great man first, and a great player second. Those values were recently on display in a most unconventional trash-talking session where Marbury said to his opponent:

“You’re nothing!… You’re caught up in basketball. Get caught up in life.”

Touche! …I think?

Statements like these, eccentric TV interviews, and “war-like” analogies often garner a “crazy” label from his media critics. But in a popular culture that values placing a round ball in a round cylinder over civic responsibility, Marbury may be the sanest of all. He has managed to escape the corporate “conveyor belt” that William C. Rhoden explains in his brilliant book “$40 Million Dollar Slaves”. And…

if you can’t understand Marbury’s reaction to broken loyalty, then you probably can’t understand his greatness.

“Apples and oranges” you say? If so, how would you know? Did you break down crying in public after watching news footage Hurricane Katrina? While sobbing, Marbury said:

“You see little babies floating in the river. It’s amazing. It’s amazing these people are still just going (on). You complain about the little things. But we’re just so fortunate to breathe and walk knowing all of this is going on.”

Marbury feels pain, empathy, and loyalty in far greater intensity than his athletic peers, coaches, fans, media, and this author. That’s why we can give high-handed lectures on “professionalism”, but he can go out and change the world. But most sports media mocks what they don’t understand. Because if it didn’t, then it would recognize Stephon Marbury as — warts and all –

…the greatest “person-athlete” of our times.

We say “where have you gone Joe DiMaggio?” while forgetting that he was a protected media myth. We say “why aren’t athletes involved in the community?”, but barely report on our greatest sports activist. We say: “what about the kids?” while Stephon is out saving them. He does not share the polish, the easy-going personality, the temperament, or the eloquence of a president-elect Barack Obama, yet he needed no fancy title to lead Obama and the rest of us to a “national call to service”. The fact that he is an imperfect hero in an imperfect package is precisely what makes him the perfect role model. I have the tools to be great like Marbury long before I can be great like Obama.

…And the more I think about it, the more I believe that I know Stephon Marbury.

Marbury is that hard-to-get-along-with friend of mine who I never fully appreciated. But then I remember the time when I got kicked out of college, and was stuck with a $3500 bill if I ever wanted to return. Then I think about a couple of years later when my father passed away. Then I reflect on the time that I went through a divorce. And each time you know what happened – Stephon Marbury showed up… to pay my college bill… to tell me he would “kick my ass” if I didn’t study and graduate… to comfort me in a time of great loss… or just to share his own helpful advice. Yeah, I have been truly fortunate to know Stephon Marbury.

But what about you? Maybe you got locked up, and he kept showing up while your other “friends” suddenly disappeared. Maybe you suffered from addiction, depression, cancer or got sick in the hospital, and he helped pull you through. Or maybe you could no longer pay your rent, mortgage, or telephone bill, and you could only think of one person to call. At your lowest most shameful moment, he appeared without judgment or scorn. Yeah, maybe I was wrong…

maybe you do know Stephon Marbury.

To see what is in front of one’s nose needs a constant struggle” — George Orwell

————————————————————–

[1] Honorable mention for sports humanitarian heavy-lifters goes out to Derrick Brooks, Steve Nash, Warrick Dunn, Dikembe Mutombo, and Yao Ming. Coincidence or meaningful that most are foreign-born?

[2] Steve and Barry, original Starbury sellers are going out of business. The Starbury brand has now moved to Amazon.com

[3] Most stories of Marbury’s philanthropy were often broken by the New York Post’s Marc Berman or New York Knicks website writer Tom Kertes. Somewhere along the line, Berman struck a genuine friendship with Marbury, and often gets exclusives telling Marbury’s side of a story. Other writers and readers charge that Berman is biased in favor of Marbury. But in a relentless anti-Marbury mass media narrative, Berman may be the closest thing to fair coverage on Marbury that you will ever find. Unlike say, Ahmad Rashad’s friendship with Michael Jordan, Berman-Marbury provides a much needed alternative.

[4] Marbury was one of the only players to show support new coach Mike D’Antoni at his press conference. He considered Isiah Thomas a mentor, and even gave him credit for inspiring taking his philanthropy to a higher level. He also expressed great excitement at Larry Brown’s arrival.

[5] Marbury showed up to the voluntary Las Vegas summer camp; displayed an extremely positive attitude about the new season.; came into training camp in the tip-top shape; and he openly welcomed the role as a “6th man” after a brief hesitation. In turn, D’Antoni publically stated that Marbury had a “clean slate”, and subsequently benched his best point guard without any warning whatsoever. Mike D’Antonirecentlyadmitted that has decisions were influenced by his past relationship with Marbury on the Suns.

[6] Brown often created regular anti-Marbury back page headlines through his frequent complaining to the press. Thomas — perhaps on the direct orders of James Dolan — benched Marbury during the 5th game of the season for playing poor down-the-stretch defense, but Knick matadors Jamal Crawford, Zach Randolph, or Eddy Curry seemed to escape notice. See #4 for D’Antoni.

But if you don’t understand what Mr. Lou was all about, then you don’t know Stephon Marbury.

You want to talk about the truck where Marbury famously requested and received consensual sex from a Knick employee. Yeah, you want to talk about “the truck” Mr. Adande — but not “the 18-wheelers”. That’s right, I want to talk about the two 18-wheelers that Marbury rolled into his hometown Coney Island with 75,000 items of free merchandise during “Starbury GiveBack Day”. …Or how Marbury visits youth on the first day of school… or how youth must read three books to play in his charity tournament, or how Marbury’s youth outreach efforts were in full effect both as a member of the Phoenix Suns and the New Jersey Nets before that. After paying an inspiring hospital visit to a 17-year old who just came out of a coma, Stephon said:

“This is where I’m supposed to be… And this is what I’m supposed to do”

But if you don’t know about his unwavering commitment to youth, then you don’t know Stephon Marbury.
 

DC4

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Well, everyone I mean every damn person who follows sports, likes some players that are not his/her favorite team, Like TYO, He's favorite team is the 76ers but Lebron is his favorite player, and yes just the other day, i saw you, You were hoping lerbon would be knick in 2010 u even ordered a custom jersey..

I mean I love a lot of players not in a heat uniform, I like Lebron, Kobe, Brandon Roy, Joe Johnson, Kevin Durant, O.J. Mayo, Acie Law IV..

I don't see what's wrong..with that..
 

.s31t

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Well, everyone I mean every damn person who follows sports, likes some players that are not his/her favorite team, Like TYO, He's favorite team is the 76ers but Lebron is his favorite player, and yes just the other day, i saw you, You wearing hoping lerbon would be knick in 2010 u even ordered a custom jersey..

I mean I love a lot of players not in a heat uniform, I like Lebron, Kobe, Brandon Roy, Joe Johnson, Kevin Durant, O.J. Mayo, Acie Law IV..

I don't see what's wrong..with that..
Thank you!
Someone fukking agrees with me.
 

bestkeptsecret13

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epic fail...
can you watch other teams or players?
Can you even have a fav five?
Or do you devote urself to one team...

All I am fukkin saying is i like stephon marbury...
what he does for coney and <Censored>...
can i like a player for who he is and not the team he is on?
Umm... Yes. LOL
 

.s31t

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Yessssssss BKS
 
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