Drama-plagued NBA guard Stephon Marbury is warning fellow free agents against signing with his former team, the New York Knicks, because coach Mike D’Antoni’s system “can’t win championships.” Is he correct?
Sean McGahan
As much as it pains me to say it, I agree with Marbury. Defense is paramount to championships, as the cliché correctly states. D’Antoni’s style is fascinating, but he has never gotten his personnel to buy into the stingy half-court defense it takes to win at the highest level. Then again, Marbury has amassed as many championships as D’Antoni, so free agents might want to pick someone else for advice.
Matt Freeland
Until Marbury does win one, nobody is going to listen. The fact that D’Antoni didn’t win one in Phoenix is because he had to deal with Tim Duncan, Kobe Bryant and the rest of the loaded Western Conference. Jerry Sloan couldn’t win one with the Jazz when Michael Jordan was in the East, and Sloan is a Hall of Famer. Coaches can only take their players so far; it’s up to the players to go the rest of the way.
Jeff Engelhardt
Well I think any NBA player only has to look at the success D’Antoni has had throughout his career to see the potential for a championship is there. In Phoenix, he won three consecutive Pacific Division championships and led the Suns to two Western Conference Finals appearances. If that isn’t impressive enough, he was Kobe Bryant’s favorite player during his days as a guard in Italy. Bryant said he even wore No. 8 in tribute to D’Antoni, so I think Bryant’s blessing is better than Marbury’s complaints.
