Rookie Marbury Finds a Home in Minnesota

Although the Timberwolves brought the rookie point guard here for the long haul, Stephon Marbury would gladly take 15 minutes of fame at this point.

He’s had to settle for five.

Or about half a first quarter. That’s the extent of Marbury’s season so far. He dressed for the opener, received a sonic standing O, took three shots, found Kevin Garnett on the break, heard more applause and saw his right ankle fold like a bad poker hand.

Two weeks later, Marbury still wears the same frown.

“Damn it,” he said, after another day spent on the stationary bike. “Not being able to practice is worse than being able to practice.”

Marbury’s mood is sour, which means it is unchanged since he badly sprained the ankle Nov. 1. However, the kid is doubly depressed. The Timberwolves are ready to fly east for their only New York appearance. His teammates are ordering Marbury to be on the plane, but Marbury is firm.

“If I have anything to do with it,” he said, “I’m not going.”

It would be too difficult. Sure, Marbury could stroll his Coney Island neighborhood again, stop by Junior’s for cheesecake and drop in on his buddies. But tomorrow he will not be healthy enough to play at the Garden, the wish of every New York City asphalt legend.

Marbury hangs his head. “I can’t even explain it,” he said, “except to say it’s the worst feeling in the world.”

In so many ways, Marbury will always feel a natural pull toward his place of birth. It’s really the only place he’s ever known, given that he attended Georgia Tech just one year before he decided to turn pro.

Yet Marbury, though only 19, is wise enough to know when it’s time to leave New York behind.

“I love it to death,” he said, “but the best place to be an NBA player is right here.”

What looks like a professional basketball wasteland to some is Eden to Marbury. What he treasures most about Minnesota is boredom and Garnett, not necessarily in that order. There is nothing to do away from the court, and there is Garnett available to do things with on the court. That’s the combination Marbury believes will benefit his rookie year, whenever it gets started.

“Being here,” Marbury said, “will have nothing but a positive effect on me.”

Three days ago, Kenny Anderson came to Minnesota, looked around, spoke to Marbury and concurred. Like Marbury, Anderson had a big career on the city playgrounds and a short one at Tech. The difference is Anderson had the fortune--in retrospect, maybe misfortune--of being drafted by a team close to home.

“Going to the Nets probably wasn’t the best thing for me,” Anderson says now, “and coming to Minnesota is probably the best thing for him. To be in New York and in the microscope, then with the big family he has, the media and the neighborhood, it would probably be too much. Here, they’re kind of slow-walking him. It’s a young team that’s not expected to win, so there won’t be any expectations.”

Anderson paused to pull on his jersey. He’s a Trail Blazer now, by choice, having signed as a free agent in the off-season. There were opportunities to play for other teams in larger cities and yet Anderson lives in Portland, a sleepy log-cabin outpost with no tabloids and few nightspots.

“Best move I ever made,” he said.

Marbury didn’t have a choice. It was either Minnesota or Milwaukee. The Bucks held the fourth selection in last June’s draft and needed a point guard. Marbury clearly was the choice of the Milwaukee fans, but Mike Dunleavy, the Bucks’ general manager, said Marbury’s people advised him not to use the pick on him. Dunleavy said they warned that Marbury would likely leave once his three-year contract was up. Marbury denied any involvement in such blackmail but did admit the Timberwolves were the more attractive alternative. The Bucks did draft him, then traded him to the Wolves for No. 5 pick Ray Allen of the University of Connecticut and a future first-round pick.

“It’s something Kevin and I dreamed about,” Marbury said.

That’s Kevin as in Garnett, the Chicago high school player who went directly to the NBA last season and in a short time has emerged as a potential force at power forward. Garnett, 20, and Marbury struck up a friendship two years ago while attending several camps and high school all-star games.

“We respected each other’s talents right away, and we complement each other,” Marbury said. “Kevin’s a big man and I’m a guard. I’m amazed by some of the things he does and I think he’s amazed at some of the things I do. If I was a big man I’d want to be just like him, and if he was smaller I’m sure he’d probably want to be like me.”

Garnett said: “When we first met, we were trying to make something happen for us on the college level, but we’ll take this over college any day.”

Garnett sold Marbury to Wolves General Manager Kevin McHale months before the draft. McHale was skeptical until, at Garnett’s urging, he took a closer look. Then he added one-plus-one.

“It takes two stars in order for a team to win,” McHale said. “Kevin and Steph can be two stars in this league. That’s where they’re headed.”

At the moment, Garnett seems to be on track, but the book’s still out on Marbury. He did average 17 points and five assists in the preseason. He also made 48 percent of his three-point shots. But being Mr. October works only in baseball.

“He’s got all the talent in the world,” said 11-year veteran Terry Porter, Marbury’s personal tutor, “but he’s playing the most demanding position on the floor, other than center. It’s hard for point guards to come in and make an impact right away. When you look at him, though, you see potential. You see more than potential. It’s obvious. He has quickness, good basketball knowledge, all the skills. He has everything you look for in a point guard.”

Marbury can only hope his NBA transition will prove as easy as adjusting to Minneapolis. He’s had only a few hurdles. In order to sleep, he turns up his radio at night so he can simulate the noisy Brooklyn streets. And already he has received a whiff of the annual arctic chill.

“You don’t do too much here but play ball,” Marbury said. “It’s too cold. You go from one garage to another.”

The enormous Marbury clan already has begun filtering in and out of town on a regular basis. This week, Stephon’s father, Donald Marbury, took his turn.

“This is what Stephon needs,” Donald Marbury said. “I’d rather him start here. I wouldn’t want him to go through some of the aggravations Kenny went through. He’ll be able to be more focused, with much less distractions. Out here, all he has to do is play ball. I think this is the perfect place for him.”

The Wolves miss Marbury already. They’re scoring 86 points a game, down from 97 in the preseason. They don’t see as many fast-break chances. Players must work for their own shots. Wolves Coach Flip Saunders noted, “We aren’t delivering the ball very well.”

All Marbury can do is watch from the corner of the court, the way he did as a 12-year-old in Coney Island, and wonder when it’s his turn to play.