>> Had Thomas stayed in power, Marbury said he knows his contract would
>> have been bought out after the season. In an interview with The Post
>> yesterday, Marbury said his contract was nearly bought out in November
>> amidst the Nov. 13 Phoenix fiasco, when Marbury left the Knicks
>> reportedly because he wasn't going to start anymore.

>> According to Marbury, Thomas did not just want him out of the starting
>> lineup for Mardy CollinsMardy Collins  in November, Thomas wanted him
>> out of the organization and sent him home to have his contract bought
>> out. Marbury said he still doesn't know how things changed the next
>> day, when summoned back to Phoenix, the talk of a buyout history.

> Not to defend Marbury's actions, but this is actually a plausible
> explaination for Marbury's disappearance, and his subsequent re-insertion
> into the lineup.  If Thomas says to Marbs, "you're fired, go home," it
> seems like a reasonable thing to comply.  If subsequently it turns out
> that Isiah didn't in fact have the power to buy Marbury out, since as we
> speculated, he appeared to be handcuffed last season, it makes sense that
> Marbury be allowed to rejoin the team.

> Marbury's clearly a nutcase and a loser, but I don't find it difficult to
> believe that the November fiasco was entirely due to the incompetance and
> mismanagement of Isiah Thomas.

> =p=