Free-agent guard Stephon Marbury has announced that he will sit out the entire 2009-2010 NBA season.

“I’m resting, doing what Michael Jordan did, enjoy life, do things I haven’t done in 16 years, keep building my empire. I wasn’t going to Boston for that money. It was a prudent business decision to take off this year.”

Marbury’s prudent business decision was to decline a $1.3 million contract (the veteran’s minimum) offer from the Boston Celtics.  Marbury spent part of last season as a reserve for the Celtics.  He was acquired by Boston after a drama-filled stint with the New York Knicks which ended in an ugly fashion.  Predictably, the Brooklyn native had some more choice comments regarding the Knicks’ organization:

“I’m just talking as a fan and New Yorker who grew up loving the Knicks: Why would I give you my money to watch them? This is atrocious. Guys coming down court, just raising up 3-pointers from anywhere. The coaching is horrible. What kind of coaching is this?”

“LeBron isn’t coming to a rebuilding team. Why would he come to a rebuilding team? It makes no sense. Is this franchise built to win a championship or to make money?”

“Starbury” indicated that he will be back in the league for the 2010-2011 season, but what interest will he generate from teams?  His game has deteriorated to the point where most organizations won’t offer him more than the veteran’s minimum – particularly if he is missing in action for a year.  Suffice it to say that Stephon’s career – while very worthy from a statistical perspective – has not been as fruitful as we all predicted upon his entry into the NBA.

Coming into the NBA by way of the 1996 NBA draft, Marbury will forever be linked with unconventional point guard Allen Iverson.  Unlike Iverson, Marbury has failed to leave his footprint on the landscape of the NBA over the past decade plus.

Nowadays, the former Georgia Tech standout’s effectiveness has been reduced to a media soundbite producer.  Due to his inability to get the best out of his teams, he’ll forever be remembered as an underachiever.  And with the excitement that surrounded his return to New York (with the Knicks), it says a lot about Marbury that he couldn’t allow that dream opportunity to result in a happy ending.

If you saw him play last year, it’s hard to believe that Stephon has NBA career averages of 19 ppg and 8 apg.  But if you haven’t seen him in a couple of years, it may be even harder to believe that a player of his skill level – still only 32 years old – doesn’t have a place in the league.

Unfortunately for Marbury, it couldn’t be any farther from the truth.

Tags: Celtics, Knicks, Stephon Marbury