Marbury & Iverson Absences

Recent news from the NBA has surrounded two guards who many view as troubled superstars, looking to get on the right track. Iverson has been in the spotlight once again for another "practice" related incident. He missed a team practice Thanksgiving morning but issued a public apology statement saying it won't happen again. Iverson is not the Iverson of past who wouldn't care about missing practice, or apologize. His famous "practice..we talkin' bout practice?" highlight continues to be a favorite of ESPN, Fox Sports and Best Damn Sports Show Period. However, this is a more mature and committed to winning Iverson. He's in a much better environment for team winning and he's already made that known. Also, skipping a team practice is definitely not tolerated, but it's not as bad as missing actual games.

On the other hand is a player who hasn't played yet this season, even though he's physically able to. Stephon Marbury was suspended and fined for refusing to play for the Knicks this past Wednesday against Iverson's Pistons. Marbury had been specifically asked to play by his coach Mike D'Antoni. It seems to be a war of words as well, with Marbury saying he never told Coach D'Antoni he wouldn't play, simply that given a choice he'd prefer not to. Then again, it is the Knicks who recently decided they wanted Marbury's services upon trading away Jamal Crawford and Zach Randolph. But to his discredit, Marbury was having similar player-coach issues last season with Isiah in town. This may be a carryover from last season's dismal New York team, or it may just be Marbury's personality. No matter what, it's clear one player wants to play and give his current team his all, while the other is riding the bench for a million dollar salary.

More on Marbury's issues in New York at Newsday.

Suns-Rockets Basketbrawl Punishments

You may have seen the highlights as a pretty-good sized fight broke out during the Houston Rockets vs. Phoenix Suns game just a few nights ago. According to AZCentral.com:

Just moments after Steve Nash clutched his shoulder after slamming into a McGrady screen, Suns forward Matt Barnes lowered his shoulder into a high screen set by Houston guard Rafer Alston as McGrady made the 3-pointer. Alston came back at Barnes in the middle of the floor, where Nash soon showed up as he raced out of the lane. McGrady shoved Nash out of the area, prompting Shaquille O'Neal to push down McGrady and give more-gentle pushes to Yao Ming and Alston as well. The dust-up carried crosscourt, with Suns coach Terry Porter trying to get between the combatants.

The incident definitely drew the attention of the league, as any instance of on-court violence has following the Pistons-Pacers melee years ago. Today the league handed out an assortment of punishments to the various individuals involved.

The main individuals behind the altercation, Raefer Alston of the Rockets and Matt Barnes of the Suns each received 2 games off from the league. The Suns will also miss their floor general, as Steve Nash was given a 1 game suspension. Suns center Shaquile O'Neal was fined $35,000 while T-Mac of the Rockets had his wallet lightened by $25,000.

In other Shaq news, despite the fine, he recently surpassed legend John Havlicek to become #10 on the all-time scoring list making for quite a milestone in the Big Aristotle's career.

In other fine news, the Sacramento Kings and their coach Reggie Theus were each fined $25,000 for their comments following a recent loss to Detroit.

Video footage of Suns-Rockets fight at USA Today blogs.