In a bizarre flip-flop, Stephon Marbury’s bombshell announcement about his relationship with Larry Brown was that he “made me a better man” and claimed he’d like to spend more time with his family this summer to get to know him better.
However, Larry Brown wasn’t talking about meeting Marbury’s family, acknowledging Marbury could well be dealt, and Minnesota’s ownership has already shown interest.
“He impressed upon me he wanted to be part of this,” Brown said. “If there were a trade out there that made us better, and he was involved, he might not be here.”
Trying to smooth over 82 games of conflict, Marbury claimed he reached an understanding with Brown in their exit meeting and talked about “trusting” each other next season. Marbury sounded like a born-again Brownie.
“We didn’t even talk about basketball,” Marbury said. “We talked about us in terms of trust, me being on the same page as him.”
No matter the supposed bonding, Brown and Isiah Thomas acknowledged he could be traded. “The coach told me he didn’t want to trade me, he said that if I was going to be traded for Kobe [Bryant] or Kevin [Garnett] – I told him you gotta do that, if you can get a guy like Kobe,” Marbury said. “But he said he didn’t want to trade me and get back junk, so we’re on the same page.”
Just last Thursday, Marbury vowed to play like “Starbury” and didn’t care what Brown wanted. But no boxing gloves were needed during yesterday’s meeting. “He said that you just got to trust each other,” Marbury said. “We didn’t trust each other this year. That’s why our year didn’t go as well as it should’ve.”
Marbury had promised to drop more bombs on Brown yesterday, but it turned into a hoax. “I had to say all of this so everybody can hear me so I know I have everybody’s ear right now,” Marbury said.
“When I was saying I want to go out and play like Starbury, I wasn’t saying I was going to be insubordinate and not listen to the coach. I would never do that. What I was saying was that I’m going to incorporate his style and my style, and be like a family.”
