The New York Knicks drama continues.

Knicks guard Stephon Marbury has yet to play in the 08-09 season of the NBA.
(NBAE/Getty Images)

There's still a lot of buzz in the NBA news wire on Starbury ever since Mike D'Antoni started coaching for the Knicks. Despite all the trades made to keep the team perhaps, in contention for the rest of the season and for the much talked about LeBron James sweepstakes for 2010. Donnie Walsh has been quite busy in the Knickerbockers office as of late. Nevertheless, the brouhaha on Stephon Marbury is still far from over.

You can't blame the Knicks fans for being a bit perplexed on the situation. Even Quentin Richardson had something to say about it. He's obviously not happy about it. For a cat like Marbury, who wanted to play for the Knicks clearly wants no part of the team already. The thought of being in such turmoil is killing him more than coach Mike D'Antoni or Donnie Walsh.

Now he gets suspended for refusing to play. Marbury however, reiterarted his stand on not playing a game against Detroit.

"If you say I got to play, I'm going to play," Marbury, speaking before the suspension, said in Friday's New York Post. "If he said I have to play, guess what, I'm going to get on the court and play, period. If I refuse to play, I'm getting suspended. I never told him I'm not going to play. Those words never came out of my mouth. That's insubordination."

It's unfortunate that the Knicks' coach and front office won't give in to let Starbury walk and play for another team that might need his services. It seems both parties are the ones making all the controversy even worse. Granted, the team has cleared cap space for the upcoming 2010 free agency and getting some good players in return off the trades (letting go of Jamal Crawford was a key loss) but the organization itself is suffering in more ways than one.

From the looks of it, the only thing clear is that Stephon Marbury is still being kept in the dog house of sorts in NYC. He has yet to play a game this season unless Knicks president Donnie Walsh finally realizes that "Coney Island's Finest" is better off playing for a another team. Knicks fans haven't been happy since the controversy broke out. At least, the LeBron James courtship is keeping the fans optimistic come summer of 2010.

The plot thickens.