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GREENBURGH, N.Y.–The New York Knicks needed Stephon Marbury to play, then suspended him a game and docked him nearly $400,000 (all figures U.S.) in salary yesterday after claiming he refused.
The disgruntled guard insists he never told coach Mike D'Antoni ``no" and plans to appeal.
D'Antoni wouldn't go into specifics of a 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 asked him to play. We just asked. You're a coach, and we needed him to play," D'Antoni said yesterday.
Marbury won't be paid when he sits out today against Golden State and will lose another game's pay for Wednesday's actions. He earns about $190,000 a game.
"A player's central obligation is to provide his professional services when called upon," Knicks president Donnie Walsh said.
There was speculation the team would release him before D'Antoni opened his first camp in New York.
Marbury has said he refuses to negotiate a buyout, believing he's entitled to all the money left on his contract. The Knicks balked at paying that, so Marbury remains on the roster, coming to practices and games but mostly remaining on the inactive roster because he's not in D'Antoni's plans.
Marbury said in a TV interview there wasn't even a jersey in his locker in Detroit and he was "suspended for no reason.''
"I never told him I was not going to play," Marbury said. The players' association plans to file a grievance on Marbury's behalf.
Marbury told the New York Post he doesn't trust the coach.
"I wouldn't trust him to walk my dog across the street,'' Marbury said.
Associated Press
