Stephon Marbury: Destroying the NBA's Reputation

I consider myself an avid basketball fan. I love college basketball and do get involved in the NBA. With that said, I am well aware that today's NBA is looked at by many people as a league filled with nothing more than punks and thugs.

We can thank this image to Ron Artest and the Palace Massacre.

Even so, whenever it seems the NBA gains a little respect back, a new incident will occur that causes the NBA to lose even more credibility.

Last year it was the Nuggets/Knicks fight, and now this year it was the gutless actions by Stephon Marbury. To sum up a long story, Marbury got upset at New York Knicks' head coach Isiah Thomas when he learned on the team plane that he would not be starting that night's game. In retaliation, Marbury did not show up for the game and instead flew home.

The Knicks' following game Marbury showed up like nothing ever happened.

Putting my thoughts on this situation in words cannot be done because the disappointment and anger I have inside of me towards a self-centered player like Marbury is immeasurable. To put it plain and simply, Marbury quit on his teammates. Instead of being a MAN a saying, "I don't want to be benched, but hey I can get through this," the coward decided to run away from the team, and more importantly the problem.

It really is a shame that a league's reputation can get so damaged by one player. Yes, I understand there are other "loose cannons" in the NBA, but you cannot deny that the individual actions by Starbury (as he likes to call himself) have put a huge dent on the NBA.

I, for one know my father, like many other middle-aged men, will say he does not watch the NBA because, "there's just a bunch of troublemakers running the court."

Why would my father think something like that? This Marbury story, that's what.

In response to anyone who might somewhat consider Isiah Thomas at fault, please rethink your thoughts. Yes, Isiah is not the greatest coach, but you cannot deny that Thomas is indeed a leader and person of example (excluding his recent sexual harassment charges). This is a famous quote Isiah once said, and for me it best sums up the person he is.

“If all I'm remembered for is being a good basketball player, then I've done a bad job with the rest of my life.”

Guarantee you would never hear something like that from Starbury.

Overall, I am still in shock that Marbury, a 30-year old professional basketball player, still acts like this. How as a Knicks' fan can you go to a game and root for a player who quit on his teammates? The guy did not even show up for the game! He went home! To put it simply; he's a loser, coward, and most importantly a complete waste of talent and money!

This will stick with Starbury for a while. He already had a bad teammate reputation, but when he arrives at a new team in the future, I can assure you his recent actions will be in the heads of his new teammates.

New York is better than a guy like Stephon Marbury. By all means they need to part ways as soon as possible. His actions have already caused enough trouble.