From the New York Times’ Howard Beck.
Isiah Thomas’s tone was sharp and his stare icy Wednesday as he angrily denied reports that he might trade Stephon Marbury, the Knicks’ star guard.
Thomas, the team president, was frequently profane in his first public comments on the speculation surrounding Marbury, which began with an article in The New York Times on Saturday. A Western Conference team executive and a player agent had independently said that Marbury was being made available by the Knicks.
Similar reports have since surfaced in other news media outlets, all citing unnamed team executives around the league.
“That is so far from the truth,” Thomas said testily, a few minutes after the Knicks played their first summer league game here. “And I’m ashamed for you guys that you even have to ask me that, because there is absolutely no truth to it at all.”
Thomas and Marbury are next-door neighbors in Westchester County and are known to be close. Marbury, a former All-Star, was Thomas’s first major acquisition after he took over operations 19 months ago.
Asked if he needed to reassure Marbury about his future, Thomas said: “He and I and all of New York City know where I stand with him and where he stands with me. In my neighborhood, we say: ‘We don’t get down like that. We don’t roll like that.’ “
Tellingly, there were no vows of loyalty towards G Jamal Crawford yesterday. The Post’s Marc Berman claims that Thomas is trying to pull of a a sign-and-trade with the Wizards for Kwame Brown, with Michael Sweetny heading to D.C.
The New York Daily News’ Ohm Yungmisuk reports the Brian Scalabrine Era is over in New Jersey. Later today, CSTB’s will provide valuable links and advice for those who want to properly explain this to their children.