Stephon Marbury's father died during his son's game

The talented Stephon Marbury played through the second half of Sunday's 115-104 loss to the Phoenix Suns not knowing his father was in an ambulance, heading to St. Vincent's Hospital. The star-crossed Knicks guard, who endured another night of regular boos sprinkled with occasional cheers from the frustrated Garden faithful, was on the court as a close game slipped away toward a 10th loss in the past 13 matches.

And at St. Vincent's that evening, Donald E. Marbury, 66, the father of one of the most famous New York City basketball products, and patriarch of an extremely tight-knit basketball family with proud Coney Island roots, took his last breath.

Isiah Thomas, who until this season's turmoil had likened himself to a father figure for Stephon, fought back his emotions as he discussed the previous night's events yesterday after practice at the MSG Training Center.

Marbury was excused from the practice to be with his family and it is not known how long he will be away from the team. It's clearly a different situation than the previous time he left the team, Nov. 13 in Phoenix, after Thomas informed him he wouldn't be starting.

"This isn't the day to discuss that," said Thomas, who also declined to offer any thoughts about Donald Marbury, whom Thomas knew.

"Again, this isn't the time for those kinds of conversations," Thomas said. "Let's let the family grieve and try to get to some place in their life where they can have some type of peace."

Stephon, the sixth of seven children, was told by a family friend moments after he left the Garden floor on Sunday night. The rest of the team, including Thomas, was told a short time later.

The player who wears No. 3 endured his third heartache in a three-week span. When he left the team in November, Marbury returned to New York to learn of the death of a childhood mentor, Robert "Mr. Lou" Williams. A week later, Marbury's aunt - his cousin Sebastian Telfair's grandmother - passed away. Marbury opted to go with the Knicks for the Nov. 21 game in Detroit instead of attending the funeral.

"I can feel his pain," said Zach Randolph, who three weeks ago lost his grandmother. "It's been a tough year. I feel real sorry for him and his family."

Knicks spokesman Jonathan Supranowitz said that Donald Marbury began feeling ill during halftime and while the players were on the floor warming up for the second half, Donald was escorted to the ambulance by Garden security.

Stephon has a row of seats under the basket at the visitors' bench end of the court, where his family usually sits and, occasionally, his father and mother, Mabel, sit there. Don and Mabel, who raised their children in a West 31st Street apartment in Surfside Gardens, spend most of their time living in a Suitland, Md., home purchased for them by Stephon. They attend games when they can.

For Sunday's game, neither were in Marbury's courtside seats. Donald Marbury was seated in another undisclosed area of the Garden and out of direct view from the court.

A member of the family informed the Knicks that Donald was taken to the hospital, but, according to Supranowitz, asked that the team not tell Stephon during the game.

Just as the encounter ended, a Garden security guard intercepted Supranowitz with the news of Donald Marbury's death, which had been relayed from the hospital. A family friend met Stephon in the hallway outside the Knicks locker room to inform him of the stunning news. The family friend also told Thomas before he met the press.

Afterwards, Marbury dressed and quickly left the Garden without speaking to reporters. He was escorted by a group of Garden security and headed straight for the hospital.

"It's a terrible thing that has happened to him and his family," Thomas admitted. "For any parent watching their son or daughter perform and to have something like that happen, anyone who has kids, you sympathize with the son and sympathize with the family. We'll do whatever we need to do to be supportive of him and his family at this time."

The NY Knicks play the Nets at the IZOD Center tomorrow night and then have a home-and-home with the 76ers Friday and Saturday. "He can take all the time he wants," Randolph admitted. "I have no problem with that."