Marbury vs. Madison. (Square Garden)

Over 200 years ago, there was a famous case called Marbury vs. Madison involving a series of midnight appointees to fill as many government posts in the waning days of the John Adams administration right before Thomas Jefferson took over.

Fast forward to 2008 and there's a similar situation going on. The old administration (Isiah Thomas) brought in Stephon Marbury in January 2004 and the new administration (Donnie Walsh and Mike D'Antoni) wants him gone.

How much do they want him gone? They're diplomatic about it in their public comments but proof is that they have him sitting in street clothes the last two games. Marbury made that request (possibly to avoid injury risk in the event of a buyout or being waived).



The reason given by the Knicks for benching a man making 22 million is that they want the major minutes to go to others and see what happens. While it was decent in the season opener, Knick fans have seen the results in the last two games when the offense is not working as designed. The awful numbers have turned into a blowout at Philadelphia and a eight-point loss to Milwaukee that really wasn't that close.

Could Marbury have changed any of that? Maybe. But it appears that the new administration is not into instant gratification and considering Marbury's track record of feuding with coaches among other things, they don't feel like it's worth the effort.

And at some point, there will be a sitdown (not the Johnny Sack-Tony Soprano variety) but a meeting will ensue. What happens next could be waivers or even another buyout.

The Knicks lead the NBA in buyouts it seems but Walsh never did it in 22 years at Indiana. He doesn't believe in them but he also hasn't made the amount of mistakes the Knicks had in the eight years since trading Patrick Ewing.

If none of those conclusions are reached, then Marbury will be the most expensive insurance policy in the history of the NBA.