Stephon Marbury may not get a chance to defend his claim he’s the best point guard in the NBA. Because he may end up at shooting guard.

Such a move would be fine with Marbury, who says he is open to change and willing to do anything new coach Larry Brown requires. In fact, Marbury said, Brown urged him to shoot more in the Olympics and once told him the two-guard spot is where he is best suited. And to Marbury, more shooting means more scoring, and he’ll take that.

“[In Athens last summer], he was telling me to shoot the ball. The game I had like 30 points (31), he was telling me, ‘Son you’ve got to shoot. You’re out there passing the ball, acting like you’re scared to shoot,’ ” Marbury recalled yesterday before a kids camp at Basketball City. “When he said that to me, it’s over with.

“The name of the game is put the ball in the hole. I don’t see them paying people for rebounds. They don’t max people out for just rebounding the ball. I want to play the two, then you can’t say I’m shooting the ball too much.”

When Brown was ushered in as Knicks coach last week, he indicated he’d like to see Jamal Crawford bringing the ball up more, thereby freeing Marbury for other duties. Fine, Marbury claimed.

“I’ll make whatever adjustments he wants me to make, [including] if he wants me to play the two,” Marbury said. “He told me a long time ago, ‘If I ever coach you, I’d put you at the two.’ ”

Reports of the rift between he and Brown were overblown and erroneous, he insisted. He hasn’t had a sit-down with Brown since the coaching move was made, but the two had numerous chats during the Olympics.

“We’d sit down and we talked to each other like men. I treat him with respect and I think he understands I want respect,” he said.

When trade rumors surfaced earlier this summer, rumors that were quickly squashed by team president Isiah Thomas, Marbury said he wasn’t worried. He talks to Thomas every day and has a great relationship with him – a closeness he feels some resent.

“I’m still here. I ain’t going nowhere. They want me to get traded because things are getting good,” Marbury said. “But I got somebody on my side now, and people can’t deal with that, knowing Isiah and I are close.

“Isiah and I have a close relationship. I didn’t need to hear it. I already knew.”