NBA Insider with Ken Berger

What do you know? The annual staredown between the Nets and Jason Kidd has begun.

Or is it a monthly staredown? Either way, it gives me a migraine.

Dare I say the Nets and Kidd have reached the point of no return? That’s how it looked last February, when the Lakers came calling but wouldn’t give up Andrew Bynum? That’s how it looked when the Nets rejected Kidd’s recent request for a one-year, $13 million contract extension. And that’s how it looked last month, when Kidd didn’t show up for a game after texting the trainer that he had a migraine.

It was time to trade the headache then, and it is beyond that time now for Nets president Rod Thorn.

Kidd’s agent, Jeff Schwartz, has once again asked Thorn to find a new home for his client. Thorn, who last year grudgingly considered such proposals, is now actively entertaining them. This with the Nets mired in a nine-game losing streak, punctuated by a deplorable 0-6 road trip during which the Nets resembled the Knicks at their worst this season, only with less effort.

Then Kidd told ESPN The Magazine’s Ric Bucher that, yes, once again, officially, he wants out.

“We tried to make this work,” Kidd said. “We’ve found out it doesn’t. It’s time for us all to move on.”

But where? Kidd used to want to play for a championship contender. Now that the Nets are in freefall, he simply wants to finish his career on a team that is competitive. The Mavericks, Lakers, Cavaliers, and Nuggets are most notable among playoff-contending teams in their need for an elite point guard. But with Kidd turning 35 in March, and with his max contract paying him nearly $22 million next season (when he turns 36), it will be difficult for Thorn to get what he wants – a good young player, an expiring contract, draft picks, and cash.

Thorn said Monday that he’s in no hurry to satisfy Kidd’s trade demand. We know this about Thorn: He’s too stubborn to be bullied into making a deal that will hurt the Nets for the long term. But he’s also had enough of Kidd’s passive-aggressive pouting. Something has to give, and I predict that it will before the Feb. 21 deadline.

The All-Star Game in New Orleans will be a frenzy of Kidd speculation. Nearly every GM in the league will be there, and with Kidd starting for the East and getting a chance to show what he can do with All-Star talent around him, the weekend showcase will be dominated by Kidd trade talk with the deadline only four days away.

It is time for Thorn to trade the headache and get the best deal he can. As Kidd said, it’s time for everybody to move on.

Great stuff. This ABC doubleheader with the Celtics-Magic and Cavs-Lakers reminds me of the good old days on NBC when every Sunday afternoon in the winter was filled with great NBA matchups.

dat-dat-DAH-dat-dat-DAT-DAT-Dun ... da-da-dat-dat-DAN-dat-dat-DAN-dat-dat-DAT ...

You remember the NBA on NBC tune. Still the greatest ever.

Anyway, the Lakers-Cavs game featured a 10-minute delay due to water leaking from the ceiling of Staples Center, followed by a fantastic duel between LeBron James and Kobe Bryant. In the closing minutes, LeBron blew past Kobe for a driving layup, then pulled a Kobe at the '98 All-Star game. LBJ waived off a screen -- as Kobe did to Karl Malone at the Garden in that game -- and took Bryant off the dribble for a fallaway jumper that gave LeBron 39 points and the Cavs a 96-93 lead.

After a wild scramble for a loose ball that left Kobe looking for a foul, the Lakers couldn't get a shot off on their last possession as the Cavs held on, 98-95. LeBron finished with 41 points, nine rebounds and four assists, while Kobe had 33 points, 12 rebounds and six assists.

Great stuff. Just like the good old days.

Madison Square Garden’s response to the incident Monday in which three reporters were stopped from interviewing a fan who had been ejected from the Knicks-Celtics game is predictable: further restrictions on the media attempting to cover the Knicks.

Reporters who already are subjected to having every interview with a Knicks player, coach or official monitored by a member of the media relations staff will now be forbidden to roam in the area under the stands directly behind celebrity row without permission and an escort from the media relations staff, according to Barry Watkins, MSG’s vice president of public relations.

This “back-of-the-house” area, as Watkins referred to it Wednesday, will be off-limits to reporters unless they make a specific request to interview a specific person during a game. (And of course, unless that request is approved.)

This is disappointing on a number of levels. First, the security staff that converged on myself, Marc Berman of the Post, and Dave Waldstein of the Star-Ledger Monday are being rewarded for handling the situation poorly.

Second, a lot of good interviews have taken place in this rotunda behind the tunnel leading from the court on the opposite side of the arena from the team benches. Ian O’Connor and I interviewed Magic Johnson in that very area at halftime of the Knicks-Suns game on Dec. 2. This sort of access to the basketball luminaries and other celebrities that frequent Knicks games adds depth to the coverage of what is supposed to be the flagship franchise in the NBA.

That is where Berman, Waldstein, myself, and several other reporters were waiting at halftime Monday. We had hoped to interview members of the Giants who attended the game and sat in the prime celebrity seats in the front row. Our attempt wasn’t successful, as a member of the Knicks’ media relations staff whisked the players away after a couple of questions, saying they had to return to their seats.

As I outlined in a previous post, most of the reporters returned to the game. Berman, Waldstein, and I noticed a fan having a confrontation with security. Being reporters, we stuck around to see what was going on.

It became clear that the fan, Ozzie Jones of Brooklyn, was being ejected for unruly behavior. I don’t want to bore you with the details – they’re all outlined in my blog post and in Berman’s column in the Post today – but suffice it to say that as we followed the fan into what I learned today is called the “back-of-the-house area,” we were surrounded by a phalanx of security people as though we were the ones acting unruly and being ejected.

One of the best things about covering the NBA is the tremendous access that is available to reporters. You can talk freely with players, coaches, team execs and the like after practices, during morning shootarounds, during the pre-game availability, and after games. Imagine being in the Giants’ locker room 90 minutes before the Super Bowl. That is what you get to do when you cover the NBA.

That’s what I did while covering the Spurs-Cavs in the Finals last June, when I was able to gather useful information in the San Antonio locker room and interview Spurs legend David Robinson just outside the room less than an hour before a Finals game.

The Spurs are one of the many NBA franchises that handle the media with openness and respect. It not only makes the job a pleasure, it enhances the information we are able to relay to you – the readers and fans who support both the newspaper business and the sports business.

As long as newspapers embrace and take advantage of this access, that will continue. As newspapers shrink from attempts to limit our access and flat-out turn down access to events and athletes you care about, we make ourselves irrelevant. As Kurt Vonnegut used to say, so it goes.

The Knicks have taken the most restrictive approach possible to the openness that enhances coverage of the NBA in every city but the one that should be the biggest and most important in the league. The most interesting detail that emerged from the now-famous New York Observer story about the Knicks’ ongoing turf war with the media was this quote from Howard Beck of The New York Times:

“Everyone is so worried about upsetting Jim Dolan, or getting fired, and as a result people aren’t themselves,” Beck said in the article. “If you transplanted the same individuals and put them in another city, then they’d be far more interesting. They’d be themselves.”

This quote applies to the security guards and ushers who work at the Garden. It applies to the media relations staffers and executives who work for Dolan. And it applies to every player who puts on a Knicks uniform and every coach and executive who works for the Knicks.

As much as you may dislike Stephon Marbury or Isiah Thomas, keep this in mind: It’s not the people, it’s the place. You would like these people a lot more if the place were different – or if they were someplace else.

I don’t believe in turning fans into celebrities when they have behaved in such as way as to give up their rights to cheer. But when goons converge on professional journalists who are merely trying to do their job, and when obtuse media rules turn the players and coaches you are supposed to be rooting for into paranoid robots, I get upset.

When the Knicks’ media relations staffer cut off our interview with the Giants’ R.W. McQuarters on Monday, I cracked a joke to the other writers. Not only are the Knicks monitoring our reporting activities with the Knicks, I said, they’re monitoring our reporting activities with every other team in New York.

It would have been funny, except that it’s true.

I can’t wait until David Stern attends a Knicks game and reporters try to interview him in the “back-of-the-house” area. I hope Stern gives the back of his hand to anyone who tries to stop it.

Only the Knicks could turn a potentially feel-good story about the Giants in the Super Bowl into an embarrassing confrontation with the media.

I joined a group of several reporters who waited under the stands to speak with Plaxico Burress, R.W. McQuarters, Aaron Ross and Steve Smith during halftime Monday. The four Giants sat in the prime celebrity seats in the front row opposite the Knicks’ bench, but had gone to the VIP area upstairs during intermission.

As the players headed back to their seats, McQuarters stopped to take a couple of questions. By the time the second question got out, a member of the Knicks’ media relations staff whisked him away, saying McQuarters had to be back in his seat – perhaps to be shown on GardenVision.

As we headed back toward the tunnel to continue watching the game, two other reporters and I noticed security guards arguing with a fan in a Yankees cap. The fan evidently was being ejected for unruly behavior and was quite vocal in proclaiming that all he said was, “Get Jeffries off the court.”

A couple of ushers began escorting the man toward the exit, and we reporters followed, hoping to do what reporters do – interview a member of the public.

Several ushers began shouting at us to stop, telling us we weren’t allowed back there. (Even though we were in an area where celebrity interviews are conducted all the time during Knicks games.) Ozzie Jones of Brooklyn – hardly a celebrity – was about 50 yards away but was able to shout his cell phone number to one of the writers despite the best efforts of the Garden gulag to shout over him.

I would estimate that a dozen ushers surrounded the three reporters, including myself, physically blocking our path and berating us for not listening to their orders, not “respecting” them and not letting them do their jobs. I explained that, in truth, it was the other way around. The security staff was keeping us from doing our jobs.

One reporter was physically restrained and had his credential torn off his neck. The apparent leader of the turquoise-clothed brigade took all of our names down, and within a few minutes, a Knicks P.R. executive sought me out in my seat behind the basket to ask what happened.

The security staff evidently felt that we had been impeding the ejection of the fan, which of course wasn’t true. We got nowhere near the fan, thanks to the overzealous security staff. The P.R. executive explained that the fan had left his assigned section, 342, and had taken up residence in section 27, where he became unruly and used obscene language.

If only the Knicks were as persistent in defending Kendrick Perkins and Kevin Garnett as the Garden security staff were in taking care of Ozzie Jones and three newspaper reporters.

I’ve gotten to know a few ushers and security people at the Garden over the past couple of years, and like them. But I don’t envy their jobs. I don’t envy anyone who has to work in this place, under these conditions. It’s sad, really, is the best way I can put it.

My man Glauber, who is up to his neck in Giants playoff coverage and in dire need of comic relief, weighed in with a cryptic comment on my blog this morning. If you read the comments, you'll see that all he wrote was, "Do Bock!"

Herewith, I'll explain the origin of that comment. It's a good story from my previous life traveling the country covering the NBA and other things for The Associated Press.

In the summer of '98, I had flown to Salt Lake City while covering the Jazz-Bulls in the NBA Finals. As a result, I was able to witness one of my favorite memories covering the NBA -- Michael Jordan standing and posing after swishing the game-winning jumper over a prone Bryon Russell to give him his sixth and final championship. But that's another story.

When I arrived at the Salt Lake City Courtyard Marriott, venerable AP sports writer Hal Bock was slumped in a chair in the lobby. As I made my way to the front desk to check in, I heard Hal's unmistakable New York baritone beckoning me. "Bergah," he bellowed. "Come ovah hee-ah."

I'll recreate the conversation as best I can from memory:

"Hal, how are you doin?" I said.

"Bergah," he responded. "How old ah you?"

At the time, I was 27, so that's what I told him.

"Get out!" he roared. "Get out of this !@$!@$@ business before they ruin you!"

I asked Hal what he meant, and he explained his woes. He'd been in Chicago for the middle portion of the series. As far as he knew, he was supposed to fly to Salt Lake to see the series through to the end.

While connecting in Phoenix, he'd called the home office back in New York to check in. He was told the sports editor wanted to speak with him.

There'd been a mixup. Sports columnist Jim Litke, and not Hal, was supposed to continue on to Salt Lake City. Hal was asked if there was any way he could turn around and fly home, as his services weren't needed.

"I could," he replied, "except that my luggage is on its way to Salt Lake City."

So Hal continued on to Utah, picked up his luggage, and booked a flight home for the next morning. He would miss Jordan's heroics, although he and I were able to share a breakfast of soupy eggs and overcooked toast at the Courtyard breakfast lounge before he headed to the airport.

Over breakfast, Hal complained about how there were "no amenities in this hotel." The beds were uncomfortable, no room service, etc., etc. He called the Courtyard "The Graveyard." And off he went back to New York.

But not before asking me to perform my dead-on Hal Bock impersonation. You see, Glauber is one colleague who is well aware of my talent for impersonations. I'm no Frank Caliendo, but I assure you I can do a better Hal Bock, Herman Edwards, Mike Westhoff, Pete Kendall, and Kevin Mawae than Frank Caliendo.

Anyway, somewhere along the line Bock got word of my spot-on Bock impersonation. He enjoyed hearing me do it, and his prompt for me to launch into Bock-isms was the simple phrase, "Do Bock!"

There ya go.

Bock, by the way, is retired from the AP and living comfortably in East Williston, LI. I occasionally get together with him and Chris Sheridan, AP's former NBA writer, for some laughs and much better food than we enjoyed at the Graveyard at my favorite restaurant -- Park Side in Corona.

Hal will begin teaching a sports writing class at LIU at the end of the month. I wonder if he'll tell the Graveyard story?

Greenburgh, N.Y. – The morning after a rare blowout victory that should have provided some momentum and good will, the Knicks instead found themselves embroiled in the latest Stephon Marbury controversy.

UPDATE: Marbury saw ankle surgeon Dr. William Hamilton today to determine if he has bone spurs in his left ankle. Hamilton diagnosed a "chronically fractured bone spur" but did not recommend surgery, which would be season-ending. Marbury will wear a walking boot for three days and be re-evaluated with an MRI.

But both Marbury and coach Isiah Thomas continued to feed speculation that there is something more to Marbury’s sudden decision to take care of what he called a “wear and tear” injury.

“With the amount of people that cover our team, you guys dig and you find every story,” Thomas said. “So if there’s a story here, all of you are equipped enough and dig hard enough, you’ll find it if there’s a story here. And if there’s not story, I guess you’ll just write that it’s no story and write it as an injury.”

Asked if there’s a story here, Thomas said, “Not that I’m aware of. Everything that we’re telling you is all that I know.”

Neither Thomas nor Marbury was able to clarify why no mention had been made Saturday that Marbury didn’t practice. Thomas said Saturday was the first he heard of Marbury’s “wear and tear” injury, and that he had not noticed him hobbling or favoring the ankle in games or practices prior to that.

Having bone spurs removed from ankles typically is an elective procedure for NBA players. Most of them elect to have it done in the offseason – including Marbury, who had bone spurs removed from both ankles during the summers of 2002 and ’03. Hamilton performed both sets of procedures.

The recovery time for such a procedure typically is 8-12 weeks, meaning Marbury would not return this season.

It would also mean the Knicks would not be able to trade Marbury by next month’s trade deadline – at least not to a team that needs him for something other than his $21.9 million contract, which expires in 2009. Marbury again addressed the possibility of being traded today.

“I want to play basketball in New York,” Marbury said. “Like I said, I love New York and I love the Knicks. This is where my heart is at, and like I said, this is a business. And in this business, trades do happen. Guys do get traded. So I’m not going to sit here and tell you that I would be mad about it. I don’t want that to happen. For myself, I want to finish my career here.”

Asked about his relationship with Thomas, Marbury said, “Fine. We’re good.”

As you obviously know by now, James Dolan moves like a glacier when it comes to deciding whether to fire a coach or general manager – doubly slow when one person hold both titles.

One thing I can tell you for sure is that the Knicks have come to a much swifter conclusion when it comes to their roster. Isiah Thomas must have misspoken recently when he said of his players, “They’re all untouchable.” He meant to say, “They all have to go.”

In checking around the league today after the latest round of reports about Thomas’ future, I learned from an NBA team executive that the Knicks are pretty much willing to make every player on their roster available before next month’s trade deadline.

“I think they would move everybody,” the exec said. “I don’t think they like their team very much.”

What’s to like?

The usual denials came out of the Garden today, with Barry Watkins, MSG’s vice president of public relations, shooting down two published reports – one that Dolan is leaning toward firing Thomas during the season, and another that Thomas has talked about quitting his job as coach to concentrate on being the Knicks’ president.

Thomas, of course, vehemently denied that he will step down, calling the report “lies” after practice at the MSG Training Center. That jives with what a source close to Thomas told me today: “He’s not walking away from either situation. He’s not walking away from anything. He won’t do it.”

The key is whether Dolan or his henchman, MSG Sports president Steve Mills, actually have contacted replacements in advance of Thomas’ possible dismissal. That hasn’t occurred with at least two of the most sensible candidates to run the Knicks; league sources said today that the team has not reached out to Donnie Walsh of the Indiana Pacers or Kiki Vandeweghe, recently hired as a consultant to Nets president Rod Thorn.

This is the tactic that Mills employed when Thomas’ predecessor, Scott Layden, was fired in December, 2003. For two or three days prior to Layden’s dismissal, Mills kicked the tires around the league and assembled a list of potential replacements before Dolan finally agreed to throw Layden overboard.

Watkins said today of Thomas’ status, “There’s nothing new to report.” At least not until Sunday, when the Knicks most assuredly will fall to 9-27 with a loss to the Pistons (27-9), who are only four games behind the Celtics for the best record in the East.

The Knicks don’t have the worst record in the East – yet. They’ll have to settle for biggest embarrassment.

I am watching the Nets squander a fourth-quarter lead against the mighty Celtics midway through the fourth here at the IZOD Center, keeping tabs via text message with Alan on the depressing goings-on at the Garden. If the Nets can get it together, I will have a chance to see the Celts lose their second game in a row for the first time all season. Doubtful.

Anyway, there’s a flurry of news stories around the league tonight. Rather than make you troll all over the place to find them, I urge you to check out the basketball blog at Insidehoops.com. Jeff, the Inside Hoops guru, is sitting next to me linking and blogging and generally waving his stylus like a madman as the updates come in. I don’t know how he does it. I can barely type on my Blackberry.

Long story short … Nene is out indefinitely with an undisclosed medical condition; Glen Rice has been arrested for felony battery after finding a man hiding in the closet at his estranged wife’s house; and the Bulls’ Joakim Noah (New York native and pawn in the Eddy Curry trade) has been deactivated tonight in Philadelphia for getting into a verbal altercation with an assistant coach at shootaround.

And you thought the Knicks had problems …

The NBA has reviewed Isiah Thomas' brush with referee Eric Lewis from Wednesday night's loss to the Rockets and will not suspend him, according to two league sources.

Video review by the league showed that, while there was contact between Thomas and Lewis as the Knicks' coach argued the lack of a three-second call on Yao Ming, Thomas didn't initiate it, one of the sources said. Lewis didn't initiate it, either. It was incidental contact that occurred while Lewis was raising his arm to assess the technical foul.

So will you be happy to see Isiah back on the bench Friday night against the Raptors? Or would you rather see Herb Williams?

The rumor du jour has the Knicks shopping Zach Randolph to the Milwaukee Bucks. Here is the Oregonian blog, by columnist John Canzano, that stirred this one up:

Canzano was the leading critic of Randolph and his "Hoops Family" when Z-Bo played in Portland. I spoke with a source today who is in tune with both the Bucks and the Knicks. "Makes sense," he said. But there's nothing imminent in terms of exactly what the Knicks would be getting back in such a deal.

The source indicated that Z-Bo getting traded makes sense for all the reasons Alan Hahn and I have been pointing out. "You watch them play and they just don't fit together," the source said, referring to Z-Bo and former franchise center Eddy Curry.

Not sure what Isiah has in mind here. He has long coveted Ruben Patterson, but he's on the street after getting released by the Bucks. Mo Williams piqued his interest last summer, but he opted to re-sign with Milwaukee instead of trying to force a sign-and-trade to the Knicks or Heat. Plus, Williams is a score-first point guard, and as the Rockets' Rafer Alston pointed out in my column today, the Knicks already have too many of those.

Keep an eye on this situation, though. The Knicks obviously have good reason to be shopping Z-Bo ...

I’m not sure what compelled me to do this, but I decided that tonight would be a good time to bring Isiah Thomas back to Feb. 6, 2007.

The trade deadline is still six weeks away, but it’s never too early to start asking the questions.
A few weeks before last season’s deadline, Chris Sheridan of ESPN.com stopped Thomas in his tracks during one of his pregame media sessions with the following question: “Who on the Knicks is untouchable?”

Thomas blew off the question with a non-answer: “Everybody.”

“Kelvin Cato,” Sheridan shot back.

“He’s untouchable,” Thomas said. “In my mind, they’re all untouchable right now. What do you expect me to say?”

So last night, before the Knicks attempted to win their second game in a row for the first time all season, I asked Thomas to characterize his level of activity in exploring what other teams are shopping.

“It’s safe to say we have our ear to the ground and we’re pretty much aware of players that are available and player that are not available,” Thomas said.

When I asked him if it’s safe to say that there are players available who interest him, Thomas said, “I have no interest in anyone but my team.”

And then I couldn’t help myself, reminding Thomas of his absurd “untouchable” comment last February and posing the question again.

A free week as a guest blogger to anyone who can guess what he said.

Cue Jeopardy music ...

“They’re all untouchable,” Thomas replied.

Which ain’t true, of course.

If there is one NBA team the Knicks should be engaging in frequent discussions with, it is the Philadelphia 76ers. New president Ed Stefanski already has made one deal and he’ll be itching to do more between now and the deadline as he makes his own imprint on a roster that will afford him the most cap room in the league next summer.

The prime candidates to be dealt are Andre Miller, Sam Dalembert, and Rodney Carney. Miller has been on the Cavs’ radar screen, and as a mediocre defender with $10 million coming to him next season, Miller should only be a consideration if the Knicks somehow can put together some semblance of a run at the eighth playoff spot by mid-February. Fat chance; they’re already eight back in the loss column, so Miller isn’t the answer.

Dalembert is intriguing from the standpoint that Stefanski is looking to clear cap space, and his defense and shot blocking would be the ideal complement to either Zach Randolph or Eddy Curry. Carney is a role player, and the Knicks already have too many of those.

I’m not sure if the Knicks will do anything by the deadline. They’re already too far out of the race to think a deadline deal can make a difference, so they’re better off standing pat and seeing what kind of lottery pick they wind up with.

Maybe that pick will get them someone who really is untouchable.

Back at the controls after a few days off and have to bring you this clip of LeBron James going off on the Raptors in the fourth quarter Sunday -- thanks to Chris Bosh's girlfriend and cousin.

The ladies had prime courtside seats, and Bosh's girl got up during the third quarter and started giving LBJ the business. Bad idea. LeBron scored 24 of his 39 in the fourth, breaking a 29-year-old franchise record and further cementing his reputation as a fourth-quarter dominator. The Cavs won, 93-90, and LeBron blamed the hecklers. Check out the clip:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tSPecsG63EU