Have you ever heard of Ted McGinley? He is primarily a sitcom actor, mostly known for his role as Jefferson in "Married with Children." The thing about Ted is that almost every sitcom he has appeared on since 1998 was cancelled shortly after his affiliation with the cast.
"Sports Night," "Work with Me" and "Life of the Party" were just a few shows that were trampled in the path of the McGinley tornado. In fact, jumptheshark.com, a website that tries to assess the exact point at which a TV show went downhill, has anointed Ted their patron saint. It's not that he is a bad actor. He has just become the kiss of death for network sitcoms.
Stephon Marbury is the Ted McGinley of the NBA. Ever since Marbury entered the league in '96, he has had a similar reputation. Not necessarily because every team he joins goes bad, but because every team he leaves turns good. Minnesota, New Jersey, and Phoenix - all Marbury's former teams - all transformed from lottery teams to playoff contenders almost immediately following Marbury's departure.
It has all been well-documented. Marbury has never been on a very good team. He has made the playoffs four times in his eight seasons as a pro, and his team has lost in the first round all of those times. Half of the time, his team was swept. Furthermore, every team that showed Marbury the door significantly improved after his departure.
So it only makes sense that the media has labeled Marbury a human hex for whatever team he is on. Ted McGinley with tattoos.
But do either of these guys really deserve the blame?
I can't speak as much for McGinley, but Mr. Marbury sure should not be taking the heat. The general conception of Marbury is this: "Well, he's a great player, but he's just not a winner." People love to assign winning as a statistic for players in every sport. Why should wins or losses be attributed to any one player? Does anyone know what the career playoff win-loss record for Jud Buechler is? It's probably amazing, but who cares? Now, it's obvious that Marbury has more of an impact on the game than a guy like Buechler, who was nailed to the bench for most of the game. It is still ludicrous to give a single player the majority of credit for winning or losing. One great player is not enough to win in the NBA. It takes a cast of other good players, something Marbury has yet to experience.
In Minnesota, you could argue that Marbury had Garnett. But both players were still developing, and by the time they both started to blossom in '99, Marbury was traded to the Nets. Minnesota combined Garnett with Terrell Brandon, one of the premier point guards at the time, and began to excel.
The situation in New Jersey was nothing short of a train wreck, even before Marbury showed up. The team was cursed with injury problems - Kerry Kittles was a lock for first team All-Injury, missing 20 games in the '99-'00 season and the entire '00-'01 season. Jayson Williams, the Nets all-star forward, suffered a freak career-ending knee injury in an on-court collision with - guess who - Marbury in '99. Keith Van Horn missed 33 games in '00-'01. The team was nothing short of a disaster injury-wise, and even with a healthy roster, the talent on the team was not outstanding.
In the summer of 2001, Marbury was traded away to the Suns for Jason Kidd, and like magic, New Jersey became a contender. Naturally, Jason Kidd got credit for almost all of the following: Kerry Kittles playing in his first full season since his rookie year, the development of the number one overall draft pick Kenyon Martin, and the addition of rookie Richard Jefferson. In spite of a host of glaring reasons for dramatic improvement, Kidd received the lion's share of the credit for the turnaround.
In his second year in Phoenix, Marbury led the team to the playoffs, where the Suns fell to the Spurs in six games. People tend to forget Marbury's spectacular game-winning shot in that series, or how the Suns arguably gave the eventual champions, the Spurs, their biggest challenge that postseason. What they do remember from his time in Phoenix is that the following year, the team stumbled out of the gate with Rookie-of-the-Year Amare Stoudamire languishing on the injured list.
The team's poor start incited Phoenix to try rebuilding via free agency, so they traded Marbury to New York for expiring contracts and little talent. Needless to say, in the off-season, they used that cap-room to sign Quentin Richardson and Steve Nash. With a healthy Amare Stoudamire, the team has become an offensive juggernaut in the stacked Western Conference.
Now the Coney Island Kid has returned to his roots in New York with the team playing about as badly as ever. It seems like the same old scenario for Marbury, and in a lot of ways, it is.
He does not have enough help around him. The roster is a Gilligan's Island of marooned all-stars washed up at the Garden. Allan Houston is the third-highest paid player in the NBA and may never play again due to chronic knee problems. All Marbury is doing is averaging 20 points per game and eight assists per game, and he will be the first to tell you that he is the only player ever to do that other than Oscar Robertson.
But wins lead to respect. Unfortunately, Marbury has been the victim of coincidence and calamity, and may never get the credit he deserves. Until he gets a supporting cast, Ted McGinley will have some company.
Dennis Doyle is a senior majoring in engineering. He can be reached at Dennis.Doyle@tufts.edu.
