Saturday, November 29, 2008

The Knicks needed Stephon Marbury to play, then suspended him a game and docked him nearly $400,000 in salary yesterday after claiming he refused.

The disgruntled guard insists he never told Coach Mike D'Antoni "no" and plans to appeal.

Marbury, who earns about $190,000 per game, will not be paid when he sits out tonight against the Warriors.

D'Antoni also did not refute a New York Post report that he'd offered Marbury the chance to be the starting shooting guard the rest of the season.

· CAVALIERS: LeBron James reacted strongly to Charles Barkley's comments that he isn't showing respect for Cleveland fans and teammates by discussing his possible free agency in 2010.

"He's stupid. That's all I've got to say about that," James said.

"If I was LeBron James, I would shut the hell up," the Hall of Famer said on Dan Patrick's radio show. "I'm a big LeBron fan. . . . I'm getting so annoyed he's talking about what he's going to do in two years. I think it's disrespectful to the game. I think it's disrespectful to the Cavaliers."

· PISTONS: G Allen Iverson apologized for skipping practice on Thanksgiving and insisted it won't happen again.

"First of all, I have no excuses," Iverson said. "It was a personal matter, but I just handled it the wrong way. I didn't call and let them know what was going on."

· SPURS: G Tony Parker returned from an ankle injury against Memphis, coming off the bench in his first appearance in 10 games.

· SUNS: Two-time league MVP Steve Nash sat out against the Heat with a bruised right thigh. Rookie Sean Singletary replaced him.

-- From News Services