Dump Marbury for good of the Knicks, Isiah

Ken Berger | NBA BASKETBALL

11:20 PM EST, January 13, 2008

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On Thursday, Stephon Marbury openly speculated about getting traded. The next night, after a loss to the Toronto Raptors, he questioned his role on the team, saying, "I didn't get paid the money I got paid to do what I'm doing now."

Sunday night, Marbury watched the game on TV from the locker-room area, curiously out of the lineup with what coach Isiah Thomas described as "some problems with his foot."

Adding to the mystery of Marbury's latest absence, Thomas refused to discuss Marbury's comments about his role, which included this gem: "I got paid to be a scoring guard. Now, I'm playing more of a passive role."

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Said Thomas: "I only want to comment and talk about tonight's game. And he's not playing tonight, so we'll cross that bridge when we come to it if he decides to play."

If he decides to play? What is the problem with his foot? Did it get run over by a Range Rover?

The conspiracy theories already were spinning when Thomas fueled them even more after the game when he said he's "not sure" when Marbury will be back. Then he deadpanned, "I was so focused on the game, I didn't know he wasn't on the bench."

I didn't know he got hurt, and nobody can seem to remember that detail, either.

He was on the floor and in uniform when reporters were allowed into the practice gym Saturday, but Thomas said Sunday night that Marbury didn't practice that day and was "very sore" the morning after.

Marbury declined to comment after the game, writing in an e-mail, "Silence can't be misinterpreted."

It can be interpreted, though. Is he trying to force a trade? Has he accepted that one is inevitable? Who knows? But, it's obvious that his days as a Knick are numbered and that both parties would be better for it.

Even more than the acquisition of Zach Randolph, the Thomas-Marbury dynamic has obliterated the Knicks' season and foreseeable future. Thomas' first mistake came early in the season, when he decided that Marbury -- not Randolph or Eddy Curry -- was the only player he had who was capable of making the Knicks a playoff team.

Instead of letting Marbury slide, he tried to give him a dose of humility -- and embarrassment -- by taking him out of the starting lineup for the Suns game on Nov. 13 after Marbury had defended poorly and not run the team effectively in early season games against Cleveland, Orlando and Miami. I was fine with that. It's called coaching.

But his second mistake was even more severe than the first, because it cost him the locker room. That, of course, was allowing Marbury to play after he'd abandoned the team following the in-flight benching.

Now Marbury is speaking up again and missing games with a mysterious injury. Now what?

Ever since Thomas gave what I called his farewell speech before Wednesday night's game against the Rockets, he's been talking even more directly about his uncertain future. Sunday night, he said, "My job is to lead in these tough times," and once again dropped hints that he doesn't expect to be here to see them end.

If Thomas is concerned about a future that doesn't involve him, then it's his duty to undo some of the mistakes he's made. If he really wants to back up his stated desire to weed out the bad apples and leave something to build on, he could accomplish a little of both by seeing what Marbury's $21.9-million contract -- expiring in 2009 -- will yield before the Feb. 21 trade deadline.

Even Marbury acknowledged how sensible such a strategy would be last week when he said, "I love playing basketball in New York, but I'm no fool."

Thomas has been talking more foolishly than usual lately. But his ability to lead for as long as he remains here would only be enhanced by weeding out the one player who never really fit on this team and certainly doesn't now.

"There's certain people who are willing to join and there are certain people that fall by the wayside," Thomas said. "But the process will eliminate the people who want to fall by the wayside."

So let the process begin.