That status is expected to be made official today, according to a person with knowledge of the situation. The Knicks will practice without Marbury, and it is likely that he will be exiled with pay while the team mulls its options on how to part ways with him.

After Marbury refused to play in Wednesday's loss to the Pistons - the second time in six days he declined to play for a shorthanded team - he lost whatever shreds of empathy remained from his teammates. Quentin Richardson blasted him after the game, saying, "I don't consider him a teammate."

Chris Duhon, whom the Knicks brought in to specifically replace Marbury as the starting point guard, said the players are thinking only about those who want to play, not those who don't. "If you're a competitor, you're always going to compete no matter what the situation is," Duhon said. "You like to have guys on your side that will do the same thing."

This has mostly been a battle of wills between Marbury and - who else - his coach, which has been a common theme throughout his tenure in New York. He battled Lenny Wilkens and Larry Brown and eventually even turned on his former mentor, Isiah Thomas.

This time around, Mike D'Antoni decided to be proactive when he made the decision to put Marbury on lockdown from the first game of the season. The players remained quiet about the situation until Marbury turned down the chance to step in and play 30 to 35 minutes last Friday in Milwaukee, when the team was down to seven players as a result of two trades and injuries. Marbury reportedly disputed D'Antoni's assertion that he declined to play. So when injuries had the Knicks shorthanded again - they were down to two guards against the Pistons on Wednesday - D'Antoni went back to Marbury with the offer to play and, again, Marbury said no.

D'Antoni sought the opinion of several veteran players about whether the team should give Marbury a second chance. According to multiple sources, the response from the players was a consistent negative.

"I wasn't for having him play on Friday," Richardson said. "I didn't know he turned it down like you guys told me after the game. I never knew that. But, I mean, I wasn't for it then."

* Magic 105, Wizards 90: In Washington, Dwight Howard had 26 points and 14 rebounds, and Hedo Turkoglu added 20 points and a season-high 10 rebounds to help Orlando beat Washington.

Orlando has won eight of its last nine games and six in a row on the road.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.