A couple of days after The New York Daily News’ Frank Isola suggested the Knicks send Eddy Curry to the D-League (perhaps he thought the “D” stood for “dinner”, “dessert” and “delicious”), Isola and colleague Matt Gagne report fellow benchwarmer Nate Robinson is demanding a trade.
“I can’t allow Nate to rot on Mike’s bench and not do anything about it. I can’t allow this to happen to his career,” Aaron Goodwin told the Daily News in a telephone interview. “It’s clear that Mike D’Antoni doesn’t want to play him.”
Before the game in Chicago, D’Antoni insisted that he had nothing personal against Robinson and joked to reporters that he would “play Satan himself” it would help the Knicks win.
Goodwin, however, believes D’Antoni has issues with his client that are not basketball-related.
“When he says that he’d play Satan to help him win, I don’t know what type of message he’s trying to convey,” Goodwin said. “But clearly this is personal.”
It is unclear if the Knicks have given Goodwin permission to seek trade possibilities on his own. By re-signing with the Knicks as a restricted free agent, Robinson is in position to veto any potential trade, although he likely wouldn’t do so given the circumstances.
Over the course of the diminutive point guard’s benching, the Knicks have won 5 of 8 games — more than half their total wins this season. It’s a small sample size, but at the moment, D’Antoni can be excused for focusing on something other than the 2-time slam dunk champion’s career.