Stephon Marbury Pines for Larry Brown

Here's how bad things are for Stephon Marbury right now, he's actually trying to convince himself that his days with Larry Brown were full of wine and roses. In advance of the former Knick coach's return to Madison Square Garden, Marbury took some time out of his increasingly not busy days to wax rhapsodic about a coach who probably hated him more than Mike D'Antoni does.

“Looking back on the last two years, I kind of liked Larry Brown,” said Marbury. “I liked Larry Brown. I’m like, Man, I wish this guy was here to drill me now.”

Brown's living in the same little dreamland.

“I don’t want to see Stephon sitting there in street clothes,” Brown said. “I don’t like seeing Eddy Curry sitting there in street clothes. But I’m not saying anything about D’Antoni. I don’t get any satisfaction out of seeing anybody struggling.”

No, Brown got his kicks from playing Curry behind the unforgettable Jackie Butler and teaming Marbury with Steve Francis in the worst backcourt ever seen in captivity.

It's easy to see why Marbury would say that about Brown. Unlike D'Antoni, Brown did let Marbury actually play in games that counted. Unlike D'Antoni, however, Brown spent the days between games emitting spouts of withering criticism. Marbury gave back as good as he got. That certainly made for entertaining copy, but not too much in the way of wins or professionalism.

It's sad, in a way, that Marbury has taken what would be the worst year in most people's lives and turned it into a halcyon era. His entire career, in fact, has been sad since he decided he couldn't stomach teaming with Kevin Garnett in Minnesota. That's another time that Marbury has looked back on with sepia toned memories long after they were gone. The only question left is whether Marbury will look back on his whole career and think everything went as planned, instead of the monumental waste of talent that it has actually been.

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