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Marbury should follow Shockey out of town

Barbara Barker

3:07 PM EDT, July 22, 2008

Jeremy Shockey is now someone else's headache.

He now can take his strange little charm-and-pout act to New Orleans. He's now the Saints' problem. It's their turn to figure out what to do with a decidedly talented but overly self-involved player. The Giants proved last year that they were a much better team without him, coming together to beat the New England Patriots in the Super Bowl while he was watching, beer in hand, with his buddies from a luxury suite.

But does the good news for New York sports fans really stop here?

I predict not. I predict this to be the summer of the jerk-cleansing in New York, and that the Knicks will be the next team to tidy up their house by finding a way to make sure that Marbury is not on the roster come training camp.

Contrary to popular belief that stylized-looking No. 3 that Marbury recently had tattooed on the side of his head did not refer to his assist per game average. But it might refer to the maximum number of months he now has left as a Knick as the team continues to explore every possible avenue that could lead Marbury out of town before the start of the season.

The most likely avenue remains a buyout, because a trade would mean taking on equal salary, which makes no sense for the Knicks. It also makes no sense for whatever teams might be interested in Marbury because it would be a much better move for them just to wait until he's cut and then sign him with a mid-level exception or the veteran's minimum.

Of course this will cost some money, but the Knicks have spent money on much more foolish things before. (See the Isiah Thomas era). And, getting rid of Marbury is a key step in improving this team, just as important as it was to hire a decent team executive and coach.

That's because Marbury is a far bigger detriment to the Knicks than Jeremy Shockey was to the Giants. At least Shockey had some charm, enough that for a time it was a great deal of fun to watch his exploits -- both on the field and in the gossip pages. It was enough that Shockey's teammates would for a time put up with the attention he drew from the media, despite the fact they were getting increasingly annoyed by his me-first antics.

Marbury, who should have been thrilled to be playing in his hometown, never looked happy. Not even when he was winning power struggle after power struggle on the team, forcing out coaches and pointing fingers at teammates. For a guy who grew up in New York, he was inexplicably clueless about how things work around the media capital. He made enemies with reporters. He fought openly with coaches. And he alienated many of his remaining fans when he walked out of a court humming after testifying about having extramarital sex in a car with a Knicks intern.

Of course, fans would have put up with all this if Marbury had actually performed on the court. As our continued infatuation with Alex Rodriguez shows, New Yorkers are willing to put up with a lot in return for great returns on the athletic field.

Nothing even near great has been happening for the Knicks for a long time. And it won't happen again as long as Marbury is on the roster.