[NYTimes]In Knicks-Rockets, Landrys’ Sibling Rivalry Resumes

http://offthedribble.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/01/09/in-knicks-rockets-landrys-sibling-rivalry-resumes/

By JONATHAN ABRAMS

HOUSTON — Some things, no matter how much time has lapsed and milestones crossed, will never change for the N.B.A. brothers Marcus and Carl Landry. Marcus, in his rookie season with the Knicks, is two years younger than Carl, of the Houston Rockets. Marcus will always want to challenge Carl as a barometer of his own maturation. And Marcus will eternally view Carl as a role model, leaning on him in more ways than one.

On the eve of their first professional game against each other, the brothers went out to dinner, and Marcus asked to borrow money from Carl.

Carl laughed when he relayed the story. He also paid for Marcus to try out with the Knicks last summer, when Marcus went undrafted and the Knicks were willing to let him try out, provided he pay his own fees.

“He wasn’t unless he was getting money under the table in college,” Carl joked, saying he provided a hotel, rental car and flight. “So, I paid.”

If it was a one-way ticket, a reporter joked, Carl would have shown confidence in his younger brother.

“It wasn’t first class, I’ll tell you that,” Carl said.

And that was how Marcus and Carl became arguably the most unlikely brother combination in N.B.A. history, joining Stephen and Joey Graham and Brook and Robin Lopez. Marcus impressed the Knicks’ coaching staff in training camp, outlasting others with N.B.A. pedigrees like Sun Yue and Gabe Pruitt.

Marcus Landry is slowly squeezing himself into Knicks Coach Mike D’Antoni’s rotation and is playing more in the absence of Al Harrington, who missed Saturday’s game with a strained left calf. On the season, Marcus Landry is averaging 2.5 points.

“Marcus came in and he worked his way on the team by continuing to work hard, by staying in the gym early, staying in the gym late, soaking up as much as he could from the players and the coaching staff,” Carl Landry said.

Meanwhile, Carl, in his third season, is one of the league’s most efficient sixth men, averaging 16.9 points and 5.8 rebounds. He was also a fringe N.B.A. prospect. Houston drafted him in the second round with the 31st overall pick in the 2007 draft.

Carl said the brothers had inherited their work ethic from their parents — Anita and Mark Landry — who each worked two jobs.

“Sometimes when you get in the N.B.A., you get comfortable,” Carl said. “There are always guys that are out there who are hungry. I was one of them and so is Marcus, and he continued to work. He didn’t stop and I’m very proud of him.”

They overlapped in college and played against each other — Marcus for Wisconsin and Carl for Purdue.

“I know all his moves, every last one of them,” Marcus said earlier in the week. “I’ll call them out. I’ll call the move out before he does it.”

Some things between brothers never change. Which is why, at times, Carl said he offers Marcus subtle reminders.

“He just thinks he’s bigger, stronger and badder than me,” Carl said. “Sometimes, I have to put him in check.”