Enough with this foolishness...Let's try looking at Stephon Marbury without clouded vision.

Ok, after reading as much coverage as I could about Marbury's debacle with the Knicks, I would like to put in my viewpoint. Many things have been said about Stephon Marbury, and, I am sure the assertions I am about to make will be directly confronted and disagreed with by a sizable amount of basketball fans. I don't really care. I truly believe that:

1)Stephon Marbury is a good basketball player with historic statistics over his career.

2)He is not the selfish me-first player the press keep pushing. (8 assists over your career does not point to a gunslinger shoot happy player. See Bryant, Kobe, and Iverson, Allen.)

3)He should get every penny of his contract whether he plays or not.

4)Coach D'antoni never gave him a real chance at contributing in the offense and being a part of the team.

5)He has, after 12 years in the NBA, kept himself completely free of law enforcement and giving the league a bad name through his off court behavior. On the contrary, I think he has done more through his business decisions for his community then any modern NBA player except Manute Bol and Dikembe Mutumbo, and Shaquille O'Neal.

6) He will sign with a new team and will make an instant impact, as well as getting his first playoff series win, further leaving Tracy McGrady by himself as an elite player who has not gotten out of the first round of the Playoffs.

Now are these views popular right now? Absolutely not. He is, according to most, an idiot who happens to play basketball (and not very well) who doesn't realize what he has and should be banished somewhere. Foolishness. I applaud Stephon Marbury playing hardball with the Knicks. This is a lucrative business, and I have seen to many good hearted, loyal players get stabbed and shot in the back from their teams. I say it's a two way street. The Knicks signed the contract, making Stephon a franchise player. It's a business. Nobody said the Knicks and Marbury had to be bosom buddies. He has played and contributed greatly, as a team leader in several categories. He took them to the playoffs. He made All-Star teams. Now that the new coach comes in, who has previous history with him, he doesn't play? Now I do not condone his attitude or comments, but at some point I believe these never-ending attacks become less about his actions and more about tearing him down. How do you bench the best player on your team? Makes no sense to me. Anyways, here are his regular season stats, do with them what you wish. I would love to read your comments about this...