Knicks Suspend Mason Indefinitely

Anthony Mason, who complained over a recent second-half benching, was indefinitely suspended without pay Thursday by the New York Knicks.

Mason, a 6-foot-7 forward, missed Thursday night’s home game against the Philadelphia 76ers, won by the Knicks, 130-82.

Mason had been critical of Coach Pat Riley after sitting out the second half of the Knicks’ 87-84 loss against Atlanta. Riley went with Charles Smith, who is coming off a knee injury and is expected to help the Knicks during the playoffs.

Riley said Mason’s status will be evaluated in the next few days but said Mason will not play the last two games of the regular season. The Knicks are bidding for the best record in the Eastern Conference.

Mason, a key reserve, is averaging 7.2 points and 5.8 rebounds in 26.1 minutes per game.

“The core objective of the New York Knicks has been, is and always will be, team first and team last,” Riley said. “The greatest challenge for a player, who is part of a team, is to voluntarily get out of himself and get with the program.

“To do that, sometimes you have to do things you don’t want to in order to achieve what the team wants. When it comes to that, everyone has to sacrifice. It’s very simple. You’re either in or you’re out.”

Riley said the suspension did not stem from one particular incident or comment.

“It’s all about attitude, an attitude one takes to every game,” he said. “Over the course of the year you always have problems with some player. But at this point in the season, we don’t have time for that.”