LOS ANGELES – He’s back. But not as a starter.
Stephon Marbury has done more to build up his frequent-flier miles than his scoring average. He hopped on a flight this morning in New York, flew back to Los Angeles to rejoin the Knicks for last night’s game against the Clippers then came off the bench for the first time in his Knicks career since his first game in orange and blue.
Marbury scored 13 in 33 minutes, going 4-for-12 from the field in an 84-81 loss.
Marbury is furious he is not starting (Fred Jones started), especially with Mardy Collins out, and his relationship with Isiah Thomas still is strained. He has told confidants he doesn’t think he can adjust to a bench role because he’s so unaccustomed to it.
Thomas’ handling of the Marbury crisis apparently has not sat well with owner James Dolan and could lessen his standing in the owner’s eyes. But a rumor Dolan was headed to Los Angeles last night to discuss Thomas’ job status was shot down emphatically by Knicks’ officials.
It’s unclear if this is a one-game deal or not. If Marbury plays better, he could be elevated into the starting lineup again. It has been reported the Knicks have fined Marbury $182,000 for missing the Phoenix game, but a Players Association source said the paperwork had not been finalized. Thomas said he would not comment on whether Marbury was fined.
Marbury abided by Thomas wishes and answered just two questions about his decision to bolt the team Tuesday morning after learning Thomas wanted to take him out of the starting lineup.
Marbury arrived at the arena in a gray suit and big smile, but eluded reporters before the game.
“This is not my battle to fight,” Marbury said. “I’m here to play basketball. I’m going to concentrate on that. I’ll leave it internal as Isiah said. I will respect that. That’s all I have to say about it.”
Marbury said he planned to apologize to his teammates for deserting them.
“I plan to,” Marbury said. “I plan to tell them this has do with Isiah and myself. That’s it.”
Marbury cut off the interview on the court when asked if he had made a mistake. In text messages to The Post on Tuesday, Marbury said he had permission to leave the team from Thomas. When asked if Phoenix was an excused absence, Thomas said, “We’ll keep that in-house.”
Thomas said he thinks he and Marbury can repair their relationship.
“This is part of being a coach in this league, part of being a player,” Thomas said. “The door is never closed. This is not a cold war. This is something that needs to be done for our team to move forward. Every now and then you run into a very troublesome situation. You work your way through it and move on.”
Seven games into the season, the Knicks are in chaos, capped by their star point guard feuding with the coach. There was even a report a punch may have been thrown between Marbury and Thomas, but the Knicks angrily denied it. Marbury also made an idle threat to a team confidant after he learned of his demotion, saying if Thomas benches him, he would dish dirt on the Knicks president/coach.
Thomas was stern in his belief Marbury has not performed to his potential and harped vaguely on his lack of leadership
“I’m satisfied in that I believe he’s capable of leading this team,” Thomas said. “And he’s capable of playing great defense. Those are the two things I demand from that position. When I see those two things, I think our team can take another step. Leadership is something I demand from the position. We believe he can do it.”
In a span of two days, Marbury logged 9,000 air miles. He traveled Monday night with the team from Westchester to Phoenix. Tuesday morning, he returned to New York after his dustup with Thomas. Marbury watched the Phoenix game from his Westchester home and took an early-morning flight to Los Angeles.
The Knicks weren’t sure Marbury was returning yesterday until they read he was on his way on the Post’s Web site in the morning.
As for his demands regarding Marbury, Thomas said, “I’m not going to settle for us being the same type of basketball team we were last year. The first five, six games of what I saw last year, I want to put a stop to it early in the season.”
The entire 48 hours calls into question Marbury’s future with the team and how his teammates will receive him. Veteran Malik Rose was bitterly disgusted after the Phoenix loss and said he didn’t know if he would welcome Marbury back with open arms.
“We as a basketball team, unfortunately, it’s an issue that’s out there forever,” Thomas said. “We have to take steps to move forward.”
The Knicks also got a boost when power forward Zach Randolph returned to the team yesterday. He’s been away since the weekend after his grandmother’s death. He was to return to Indiana today for his grandmother’s funeral, which is tomorrow. He’s expected to miss tomorrow’s game in Sacramento.