Sean Deveney

Stephon Marbury, the player, has been vastly overrated for years now, the kind of me-first point guard that frustrates coaches, frustrates teammates and frustrates those who prefer to watch basketball rather than Globetrotter-esque, one-on-one demonstrations.

Stephon Marbury, the man, isn't very impressive, either, having pouted his way out of Minnesota because Kevin Garnett got too much attention, declaring himself the "best point guard in the NBA", and getting into locker-room fights with teammates. The revelation that Marbury, who is married, had sex with a Knicks intern in the back seat of his truck outside a strip club in 2005 was one of the creepier points of the Anucha Browne Sanders case this summer.

Given that history, it's easy to see why Marbury has been dumped by three franchises in 11 years, and could be on the brink of being dumped by yet another. But if you want to point a finger here, don't do it at Marbury. Do it at someone even less admirable — Knicks coach Isiah Thomas.

Marbury went AWOL Tuesday after hearing that Thomas planned to move him to the bench for a game in Phoenix that night. Which raises a question: What, exactly, did Marbury do to deserve this?

It hadn't been a great year, five games in, for Marbury. He is averaging 15.2 points, which would be a career low, and shooting 40 percent from the field. He's had some excellent games (21 points, nine assists in a win over the Nuggets) and some stinkers (five turnovers against the Magic, and a poor turnover at the end of a loss to Miami). But that's nothing new for Marbury. The Knicks should know by now that consistency isn't really Marbury's thing. At the very least, he's done a better job passing on his own shot and getting the ball to the Knicks' scorers this year.

So, when he heard that Thomas was planning on knocking back his role, Marbury lost his cool and left the team. He shouldn't have done that — not as an employee, not as a guy who's had Thomas stick up for him time and again. But, still, the root of Marbury's unhappiness is understandable.

It was a difficult summer for both Marbury and Thomas. Then the season got rolling and, despite the late-game meltdown against the Heat, Marbury was not playing terribly. All the sudden, after five games, Thomas decides that he is going to replace Marbury? Hmm. Why? Do the Knicks have some All-Star-in-waiting point guard on the bench? Who is it that Thomas simply must put in the starting lineup? Tell us, please!