Bad Blood Between The Knicks And Stephon Marbury Continues

Tension rises as personalities clash between Marbury and the rest of the team. His ankle injury isn't helping the situation. This basketball season has been extremely heated and controversial for the Knicks so far concerning Stephon Marbury and it doesn't seem to be getting any better. Marbury didn't show up at Madison Square Garden last night despite orders from coach Isiah Thomas to attend and address reporters about whether he had been banned from home games. There's even word that the NBA Players Association might have to get involved. Marbury hasn't able to play because of complications with his left ankle and hasn't attended a home game since his surgery. Some people think that the team has ordered him to stay away from the Madison Square Garden because he's such a distraction to them. Even though Thomas has insinuated that Marbury's days are numbered, the Knicks' training staff has been instructed to work on his ankle in order to get him back in the game before the end of the season. Although, the recovery time for his kind of surgery would make that impossible. The word on the street is that Marbury wants out of the Knicks. The players association said that if the Knicks don't want Marbury on the team, they should either buy out his contract or trade him to another team. Pressure from the union could help Marbury's chances of receiving a buyout. However, if it's confirmed that Marbury has been ordered not to attend home games, it would be damaging to his reputation and minimizes his chances of playing with another team. Thomas walked out of a pregame media session, refusing to answer questions about Marbury's status. Madison Square Garden's Senior Vice President of Communications also had no comment. Marbury is being pretty closed-mouthed about the situation. Madison Square Garden's edict forbids him from talking to the media. The National Basketball League probably won't interfere because policies regarding media availability for injured players are nebulous. It's unclear whether forbidding a player to attend home games violates any rules. Things started going down hill for the Knicks when Marbury left the team in Phoenix and flew to New York when Thomas told him he was losing his starting job. After that, the Knicks lost again but this time to the Suns. When Marbury came back to play against the Clippers in LA, Thomas disregarded the team's vote to not let him play. Marbury ended up being docked one game check which is about $180,000. The players association appealed the fine but it's not likely to be heard until after the season is over. The fact is, even his teammates have lost patience with Marbury and it's creating tension all around. Burdened by the result of an 18-42 season, the Knicks are disgusted that everything still revolves around Marbury.n