GREENBURGH, N.Y. — The New York Knicks needed Stephon Marbury to play, then suspended him a game and docked him nearly $400,000 in salary Friday after claiming he refused.
The disgruntled guard insists he never told coach Mike D’Antoni “no” and plans to appeal.
Just another chapter in Marbury’s turbulent tenure with his hometown team.
D’Antoni wouldn’t go into specifics of their conversation that took place before Wednesday’s loss in Detroit, though he made it clear he asked the point guard to play because the Knicks were short-handed.
“I don’t want to get into it, guys. I think I already told you, I asked him to play. We just asked. You’re a coach, and we needed him to play,” D’Antoni said after practice Friday. “So I don’t really have a whole lot to say. There’s nothing I can say right now. I’ve already said the piece and what I said from my viewpoint is what happened. So we’ll just leave it at that.”
Marbury will not be paid when he sits out Saturday’s home game against Golden State and will lose an additional game’s pay for Wednesday’s actions. He earns about $21 million in salary this year, drawing about $190,000 a game.
Marbury was not at the team’s practice facility Friday.
“A player’s central obligation is to provide his professional services when called upon,” Knicks president Donnie Walsh said in a statement. “Because he refused the coach’s request to play in the team’s last game, we had no choice but to impose disciplinary action.”
Walsh was in Indiana for the holiday but is expected to address the issue before Saturday’s game.
Marbury told NBC’s Bruce Beck in an interview Friday there wasn’t even a jersey in his locker in Detroit and he was “shocked” he was “suspended for no reason.”
Marbury added he and D’Antoni spoke Wednesday morning and “basically went our separate ways.”
“I never told him I was not going to play,” Marbury said. “That’s basically why I’m getting suspended. If I were to have said I’m not going to play, that’s an automatic suspension, which I basically got suspended anyway.”
Notes
LeBron blasts Barkley
CLEVELAND — LeBron James reacted strongly to Charles Barkley’s comments that the Cavaliers star isn’t showing respect for Cleveland fans and his teammates by discussing his possible free agency following the 2010 season.
“He’s stupid. That’s all I’ve got to say about that,” James said.
Barkley made the comments on Dan Patrick’s radio show.
“If I was LeBron James, I would shut the hell up,” the Hall of Famer said on Patrick’s show. “I’m a big LeBron fan. He’s a stud. You gotta give him his props. I’m getting so annoyed he’s talking about what he’s going to do in two years. I think it’s disrespectful to the game. I think it’s disrespectful to the Cavaliers.”
Iverson apologizes
AUBURN HILLS, Mich. — Allen Iverson apologized for skipping a Detroit Pistons practice on Thanksgiving and insisted it won’t happen again. The standout guard was the only player who didn’t show up.
“First of all, I have no excuses,” Iverson said. “It was a personal matter, but I just handled it the wrong way. I didn’t call and let them know what was going on.”
Iverson spent most of the first quarter on the bench, until coach Michael Curry sent him in with 2:24 left in the period.
Parker returns to Spurs
SAN ANTONIO — Tony Parker returned from an ankle injury Friday against Memphis. Parker came off the bench in the second quarter in his first action since a Nov. 7 loss to Miami. It marked the first appearance in 10 games for Parker.
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