NEW YORK (AP) - Stephon Marbury really isn't any different than the average office worker agitated at his boss.
Sure, he may make $21 million a year - a tad more than the typical disgruntled employee - and it may be hard for most people to imagine bristling over a request to play in a professional basketball game. But to researchers who study the dynamics between management and staff, the feud between the New York Knicks and their estranged point guard is not all that unusual.The academic term for Marbury's behavior is "secret tests," said Denise Rousseau, a professor at Carnegie Mellon University. An unhappy husband acts the same way: overanalyzing his wife's every move for hidden meaning.
"And if you're looking for signs of ill health (in the relationship), you will find them," said Rousseau, the H.J. Heinz Professor of Organizational Behavior.
So it's natural - if not justified - that Marbury would interpret coach Mike D'Antoni's actions as malicious no matter the intent. An employer trying to repair a splintered relationship must be absolutely clear in all communication, she said. Otherwise, say, Marbury may claim he perceived D'Antoni's request that he play to be optional, while the coach considers it an order.
So should the Knicks have bought out Marbury when he wasn't in their plans earlier this season, even if it meant paying him money he didn't earn? Absolutely, Rousseau said. Refusing to pay up is an irrationally emotional decision, and keeping a disgruntled employee under those circumstances only hurts co-workers - in this case, his teammates.
"That's silly," Rousseau said. "It's cutting off your nose to spite your face."
