Estranged New York Knicks guard Stephon Marbury was told on Monday to stay away from the team after talks on a possible buyout of his US$21 million contract failed to produce a settlement.
“After meeting with Stephon and his representative this afternoon, we have directed Stephon not to participate in practice or attend games until further notice,” Knicks president Donnie Walsh said in a statement. “We want to continue to meet with him to discuss a long-term resolution.”
The 31-year-old Marbury, with a career-scoring average of 19.7 points per game over 12 years with four clubs, has not played a single minute this season.
PHOTO: AP
Marbury, who had feuds with the two previous Knicks coaches, was shunned at the start of the season by Mike D’Antoni and placed on the inactive list, attending games in street clothes.
After a series of trades and injuries left the Knicks severely short-handed, Marbury was asked to play but he declined.
Walsh suspended Marbury for one game without pay and docked him an additional game’s salary, forfeiting close to US$400,000 after his refusal to play last week in a loss to Detroit.
Walsh is against cutting Marbury and having to pay him even though he would be free to shop himself to another team. Marbury has said he wants to be paid in full.
The bad blood between the native New Yorker and the Knicks spilled into print when he blasted Knicks player Quentin Richardson for talking about him.
“I sat there for three weeks and didn’t say one word,” Marbury told the New York Post on Monday. “I didn’t hear one of my teammates say, ‘Why isn’t Stephon Marbury playing?’ Guys like Quentin Richardson say, ‘I don’t consider him a teammate. He let his teammates out to dry.’ He didn’t care I was his teammate when I was banished.”
“They left me out for dead. It’s like we’re in a foxhole and I’m facing the other way. If I got shot in the head, at least you want to get shot by the enemy. I got shot in the head by my own guys in my foxhole,” he said.
CELTICS 107, MAGIC 88
Paul Pierce scored 17 of his 24 points in the third quarter to lead the Boston Celtics to their ninth straight win, over the Orlando Magic on Monday.
Ray Allen added 21 points, Rajon Rondo had 16 points with 12 assists and Kevin Garnett scored 15 points for the Celtics (17-2) in a matchup of Eastern Conference division leaders.
Rashard Lewis paced Orlando (13-5) with 30 points. Hedo Turkoglu had 19 and Dwight Howard, the NBA’s leading rebounder, added 14 points with 15 boards.
The Magic had their four-game winning streak snapped. Orlando had won six straight road games, one short of a club record that was set at the start of last season.
BOBCATS 100, TIMBERWOLVES 90
At Charlotte, North Carolina, Jason Richardson scored 25 points in another strong performance following arthroscopic knee surgery as Charlotte beat error-prone Minnesota.
It was the third straight game of at least 21 points for Richardson since his return after sitting out seven contests following exploratory surgery on his right knee. He led an efficient offense that included a season-high 24 points from Emeka Okafor, while Raymond Felton added 14 assists with only one turnover.
Randy Foye scored 23 points and Mike Miller added 19 points and 10 rebounds for the Timberwolves, who were never in sync in their second straight loss. Top scorer Al Jefferson was held to eight points on 3-of-11 shooting and Minnesota committed 14 of its 18 turnovers in the first half.
OUT AGAINST INDONESIA: Taiwan reached the semi-finals at the tournament for the first time by defeating Denmark, with Chou Tien-chen beating Viktor Axelsen Taiwan yesterday crashed out of the Thomas Cup team competition in Chengdu, China, but achieved their best result at the top-tier badminton event by reaching the semi-finals. Indonesia were too good in the semis, winning 3-0 to advance to today’s final against China, who eliminated Malaysia 3-1. In the opening singles of the men’s team clash at the Hi-Tech Zone Sports Center Gymnasium 2, Anthony Ginting defeated Taiwan’s Chou Tien-chen 21-18, 21-19 in 51 minutes, which put a huge hole in Taiwan’s aspirations to perhaps even make the final. In the men’s doubles, Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Ardianto downed Lee Yang and Wang
NO DOUBT: Spurs star Wembanyama was unanimously selected as NBA Rookie of the Year, winning all 99 votes to become the first Frenchman to capture the honor The Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday night produced a dominant defensive display to seize a commanding 2-0 lead in their best-of-seven playoff series against the Denver Nuggets with a 106-80 road victory. The third-seeded Timberwolves harassed Denver relentlessly to claim a second straight win over the NBA champions as the series heads back to Minneapolis for Game 3 on Friday. Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards scored 27 points apiece, but the star of the show was Minnesota’s suffocating defensive effort, which knocked Denver out of their stride almost from the tip-off. The Timberwolves finished with 11 steals and 12 blocks, in sharp contrast to
Top-ranked Iga Swiatek on Saturday came through “the most intense and crazy final” she has ever contested to avenge her loss to Aryna Sabalenka in last year’s Madrid Open final with a grueling three hour, 11 minute victory in the Spanish capital. Coming back from 1-3 down in the decider and saving three match points in total, Swiatek claimed a 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (9/7) victory to secure the Madrid Open trophy for the first time. “Well, who is going to say now that women’s tennis is boring, right?” Swiatek said. Swiatek, who picked up the 20th title of her career, and ninth at
One of Malaysia’s top soccer clubs has pulled out of today’s season-opening Charity Shield after a spate of assaults, including an acid attack, on players in the country. It leaves the kickoff of Malaysia’s season this weekend under a cloud following the unprecedented acts of violence against players, which have left the country shocked and angry. Authorities said they have imposed tighter security, but Selangor said that they would not play in the showpiece curtain-raiser against Malaysian Super League champions Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) citing “a series of criminal incidents and recent threats.” Selangor and Malaysia winger Faisal Halim is in intensive care