http://www.nypost.com/sports/64647.htm "Stephon is the worst teammate I've ever had," Tim Thomas told me an hour after the Suns had eliminated the Clippers, echoing the sentiments of Jayson Williams, Keith Van Horn, Kurt Thomas and several Suns and Knicks who wish to remain anonymous. "We grew up together, yet the whole time I was with the Knicks he never talked to me. Not once. Not until I was traded did he say anything. When I was leaving he came over and gave me an I-Pod he'd bought as a going-away present. He even installed hip hop music. They don't come any weirder!"
I remember hearing a story out of a NY locker room during a practice. After the coach had just chewed his team out, Stephon stood up and did the same thing after the coach had walked out. Telling them that they were not showing any hustle or toughness and that they were being lazy. The rest of the team went back on the court to practice, Stephon stayed behind to get a massage....
Wow. Almost enough to make a person positively wistful about Francis. Steve could drive you nuts, sometimes (well, more than sometimes), with his play, but he was an excellent teammate.
i have no idea why this guy gets no respect when his career average is 20PPG and 8APG compare to Steve "MVP" Nash: 13PPG and 7APG Baron Davis: 15PPG and 7APG Skip to my Lou: 8PPG and 4APG Jason Kidd: 15PPG and 9APG (all career avg) my point is that why some guy who puts up this kind of number would be consider cancer to a team he has the heart, the skill, and his numbers are steady (unlike some guy who can disappear in one day and then shooting lights out the next day)
You have to look beyond the numbers to see why this guy gets no respect. Many of his past teammates have criticized him and he has clashed with his coaches. There is a reason why his former teams have improved as soon as he is gone.
He gets those numbers because he is one of the most talented and physically gifted guards in the league. He'll never win anything because he is fools gold. He'll get 20 points and 8 assists and give you absolutely nothing else. He isn't a good team mate, he isn't a good leader. I remember reading about him in NJ where he wrote "I'm all alone." Or something to that effect on his sneakers. I think it was that same year he was lambasting his team mates publicly and made a big hoot about Keith Van Horn being so soft.
Because despite the numbers, he's a bad PG. He doesn't trust his teammates. Hardly anybody likes playing with him. He's been on a lot of bad teams, and didn't do a whole lot to make them better. Hell it seems like every team that he leaves immediately gets better without him. He's just selfish. If he was selfish and was good enough to win, then he would get his props. But he's not that good, so he's a target to get taken down a peg. And I know you didn't just imply that just because Marbury averaged more points and assists over his career, that he was in any way on par with Nash. Because that would be the argument of a person that doesn't actually watch basketball.
I would love to have Marbury in a Vinnie Johnson/Mike James 6th man role, where you ask him to provide instant offense with the second unit. He has the talent to put up numbers in a hurry. As a starting point guard and with the money he gets, no thank you.
He's the reverse Sam Cassell. Sam was 2nd in the league in assists one year and he still got no credit. Marbury gets to be on the all star team for what reason? I dont know.
those are the best two point guards in the league, marbury isnt even close... look at steves numbers the last two seasons he averaged a double double
Steph screwed himself when he asked out of Minny, I thought that team had a good young nucleus and who wouldn't want to play with KG. Selfishness drove him away and he hasn't been with as good a team since.
The bigger question is why was Tim Thomas being asked about Marbury an hour after the Suns beat the Clippers?
probably because vecesy has to talk about the knicks. and thomas has played for both marbury and nash.
I think the only way he could blossom and overcome all of this is to get on a team with proven superstars, someone who he would respect. That way, he could take the secondary role and that would help him a lot, IMHO. DD
If you don't understand it, then clearly you haven't been paying attention to his career. Every single team he has gone to has been worse for having him. When a player is as talented as Stephon Marbury but teams consistently get worse when they acquire him and better when they're rid of him, you've got to consider that it might just be because he is a perennial loser. Stephon Marbury is one of the biggest wastes of talent in the league. He's a loser, and he doesn't want to change that so long as he's collecting checks and getting to be the man on his team. He blames everybody else instead.
I don't get this. Is this buying gift a tradition among players? If Starbury is such a bad guy (toward Thomas), why did he buy Thomas the I-Pod? How many teammates buy gifts when players leave the team? Did Hakeem buy Horry something when he got traded? I'm not calling anyone out nor defending Starbuy, it just seem odd. Why go through the trouble of getting an IPOD and load it with music for someone you don't give a damn about?
