Quiet As It's Kept...

NYC is the mecca of sports, and while other major cities like to think otherwise, I see no reason to debate. In football, we proved we're the boss when the New York Giants won the Super Bowl by stomping out what was deemed to be one of the best teams in all of history, the New England Patriots. The Mets and Yanks still have Jeter and A-Rod, and most fans are still buzzing about the Mets' offseason acquisition of Johan Santana. Our basketball team, the Knicks, are on the complete other end of the spectrum.

'Basketball sucks' seems to be the general consensus, as ratings and fan interests are at an all-time low. I know people who haven't watched basketball since the Michael Jordan era, gangsta ass Chicago Bulls era. Ask any of them and what's left of the NBA will never compare and can barely even be called basketball. That is especially the case here in NYC. The Knicks were at one point one of the most feared and revered teams in the NBA. Nowadays, they're one of the worst teams, record wise, in the league. The Knicks exploded onto the scene before the season even started, with the Anucha Browne Sanders sexual harrassment/wrongful termination lawsuit, and the well-publicized tension between Knicks head coach Isiah Thomas and PG Stephon Marbury. With big name players and big money contracts, no one expected the season to go the way it has. The Knicks have the fourth worst record in the league at 17-38, above only Memphis, Minnesota and Miami.

I can't count the number of anti-Marbury articles I read and telecasts I watched over the past few months. Everyone pointed the finger at Starbury, saying his selfishness and arrogance was the reason for the Knicks lackluster efforts, dismal record and poor play. All those chatterboxes backed off a bit when Marbury had deaths in his family, including his childhood mentor, his aunt, and his father, Don Marbury, who suffered a fatal heart attack IN Madison Square Garden during a Knicks' game in December. Lemme ask you now, when was the last time you heard the name Stephon Marbury?!

Exactly!! The storyline got old, fast. Stephon Marbury has quietly faded into the background, and with no real public stars to attack, so has the media coverage. Marbury only played in 4 of the Knicks' 14 December games, and hasn't played for the team since January. It's been over a month since the controversial PG was on the court, and that's not going to change anytime soon.

X-Rays in January showed he had a fractured bone spur in his left ankle. "I have pain when I'm running up and down the court," said Marbury in an interview. "I need surgery." He had the same bone spur surgery on the same ankle back when he was in Phoenix, so he knows what he's talking about. Marbury had the surgery again back in January, and this time around, what was supposed to be a routine bone spur removal surgery turned into a lengthy 2-hour long procedure. Doctors found several bone fragments in the ankle that also had to be removed.

Initial reports said Marbury was out indefinitely, and that the Knicks hoped to have him back in a matter of months. We learned last week that Marbury is in fact done for the season. The Knicks were being weird about the whole situation, specifically saying that Steph "decided" to have the surgery, as if it was a decision the organization wasn't backing. You don't have to love the guy, but at least give a damn about his health.

The sad truth is, at 31 years old, Marbury seems to be coming up on the end of his NBA career, and his durability has really come into question. He has struggled to stay healthy over the past few seasons, missing several games with shoulder and foot injuries, and knee tendinitis. During this season, Marbury averaged a career low 13.9 points per game.

Stephon Marbury's huge contract is one of the many reasons why the Knicks are well over the salary cap, and the laughing stock of the league because of it. Marbury is making $20 million this season, and he has one year and $21.9 million left on his deal. There is speculation that the Knicks may be looking to buy him out. The trade deadline came and went, and the Knicks barely batted an eyelash, mainly because there aren't nearly enough pieces to complete their trade puzzle. This season is a wash, and frankly, I don't know anyone who would want to come into this ill-fated situation - on purpose.

Before the season started, Marbury said he wanted to win a championship with the Knicks then move to Italy with his wife and play basketball there. "I'm not just thinking of doing it, I'm going to do it," said Marbury last July. In his blog, Steph went on and on about his trip to Italy and seemed to be renewed by his experience. He called himself tryna get his "David Beckham" on, and wants to go overseas to assist in the globalization of the NBA. He hopes to "spread the Starbury Movement" by promoting his affordable line of sneakers and athletic wear.

Now I'm not the biggest Marbury fan, but I think it was just easier for everyone to focus on him rather than the real problem at hand, which actually stems from Knicks' management. It's unfair to assume that everyone that plays a team sport is a team player, and if he is selfish and arrogant, then learn how to work with him. With all the negative publicity surrounding the franchise, it's easy to miss some of the good things he's done. He donated $4 million last year, $1 million each to teachers, emergency services, and NYC police and fire departments. This doesn't even include the hundreds of pairs of sneakers, clothing and haircuts he gave away to inner city youths and area basketball teams. He says he found God, in his own strange, erratic way and people mocked him. He was one of the few public figures who wasn't afraid to speak out in favor of Michael Vick and people jumped down his throat and called him an idiot.

"I'm in the best place in my life, man," Marbury said during a New York Times interview this past September. "It seems like people don't like it when you grow. They don't like it when you get older and wiser. I came into the NBA when I was 18...If I didn't take the time to grow, something's wrong." Marbury has decided to go out on his own accord, instead of sticking to conventional NBA culture. I'm all for it, and at this point he might as well.