(My Sportsbook) - Last season, the New York Knicks played through 82 games of a continual nightmare. There was the nightly joke of 19,763 fans announced to continue New York's fictional portrayal of a packed house despite a putrid product. There was the loss of a great NBA coach and the subsequent replacement with a man who should be a gym teacher. Then there's Scott Layden, whose incompetence as an NBA executive is only surpassed by his spastic communications with the media.

This year, just three weeks prior to the start of the regular season, Garden brass, in its infinite wisdom, decided to break bad with its best player.

After four seasons of handling Latrell Sprewell with kid gloves, the Knicks took a heavy-handed approach to Sprewell and his wallet.

The organization is upset by Sprewell's broken right hand and, more important, his failure to inform the club about the injury for two weeks.

In an effort to show some fangs for seemingly the first time ever, Layden fined his star player $250,000 and forbid him from having any contact with the team. As for the banishment, Layden was quick to point out it was not a suspension. This method of punishment not only allows the organization to fine Sprewell more money, but also allows him to use team facilities to rehab his hand.

"When he's ready to make a positive contribution to the team we'll have him back," said Layden.

Sprewell's indiscretions as a member of the Knicks are well documented. He blew off the start of training camp in 1999 to drive cross-country. For this infraction, the Knicks held him out of just one preseason game. When Sprewell missed a pregame shootaround in Miami last April, the organization fined him $2,500 -- which Sprewell probably dug out in change from between the seats of his Mercedes Benz. During his tenure, Sprewell has routinely showed up for games well under the 90-minute limit the club regulates. Former coach Jeff Van Gundy learned to accept that as part of the deal, largely because Sprewell gets after it full-tilt from the opening tip to the final buzzer each and every game.

"The approach that we've taken thus far has not been effective and we need to try something different," Layden said. "We're going to get it right."

A rumor surrounding the way Sprewell broke his hand has done little to help matters. According to several reports, Sprewell broke the hand with an errant punch -- a punch that was intended for the boyfriend of a female guest that vomited on the carpet of Sprewell's new yacht. There has been no absolute confirmation of this story, but it certainly seems feasible. Sprewell said the injury did in fact occur on the yacht, but that he simply slipped and fell.

Before we go any further on this subject, let me just state that I do believe Before we go any further on this subject, let me just state that I do believe what Sprewell did is wrong. When you're a multi-million-dollar athlete, you have a responsibility to report an injury to your employer in a timely fashion. Roster decisions, among other things that are less obvious, have to be made based on that information. Maybe Sprewell thought the hand was not as bad as it turned out to be. Maybe he was just procrastinating out of dread for the inevitable maelstrom the story would create. Nobody knows why he delayed reporting the injury except for Sprewell himself.

With all of that being said, Layden dropped the ball once again with his handling of the situation. There's a naive concept in the world that every member of a team should be treated exactly the same. This is not really a concept -- it's a myth. The idea that players of different skill and compensation levels should be treated equally is a fairy tale -- a fable worthy of Aesop.

Sprewell is not only the best player on the Knicks, but he's also their most popular player. He plays with a tenacity shared by few -- if in fact any -- of his teammates. He has played out of position and has guarded much larger players at the expense of his own stats since he arrived in New York -- despite the fact he's light years better than the club's current, $100-million shooting guard. Sprewell is, and please accept my apology for using a tired cliche, the heart and soul of the Knicks.

Obviously, Sprewell is going to fight the latest fine through every legal measure possible. There is now a rift between player and organization that may never be healed, despite Layden's proclamation to the contrary.

"We clearly want him," Layden said. "He absolutely has a future with this team."

In my opinion, Sprewell has played his last game as a Knick. He has one of the only reasonable contracts on the squad and is a tremendous talent. Now, Layden has made him distressed merchandise to the point that the Knicks will get fleeced in any deal should they part with him. This is simply something a cap- strapped team can't afford to do.

The Sprewell fiasco would be reason enough to think it would be a long NBA season at Madison Square Garden. But just a week after that story broke, the Knicks received even more bad news.

Antonio McDyess suffered a fractured kneecap in a preseason game and is lost for the season. McDyess missed all but 10 games of last season after injuring the same knee with Denver. The Knicks acquired McDyess from the Nuggets in a Draft-day trade that sent Marcus Camby to the Rocky Mountains. Ironically, Camby is also sidelined, likely for the season, with a hip injury.

The NBA granted the Knicks a $4.5 million injury exception after McDyess underwent season-ending surgery.

FRONTCOURT: The injury to McDyess and the uncertainty surrounding the Sprewell situation leaves the Knicks with quite a frontcourt quagmire. At the start of the season, it appears that the Knicks will start Michael Doleac at center. Doleac is not exactly an ideal starting center, but he is at least a wide body that should not be shy with his fouls.

Kurt Thomas is probably the best forward the Knicks have, which gives one a pretty good idea of how dire a situation the team is in. Thomas can score and has improved each and every season. He is a nice complementary player, but he's not going to be able to carry as much weight as the Knicks need him to.

Clarence Weatherspoon, similar to Thomas, is a nice bench player that will start for New York. Weatherspoon brings plenty of hustle, but his skills are pedestrian at best. He slimmed down a bit in the offseason, likely so he could log some minutes at small forward. The problem with Weatherspoon is he's really a tweener -- too small to play power forward and too slow to play small forward.

Othella Harrington had a hard time getting sufficient minutes last season, but out of pure necessity he'll receive plenty of playing time this year. Harrington has some skills but is prone to mistakes and silly fouls. Perhaps with increased playing time, he'll become a pleasant surprise. He has a couple of low-post moves, and with a little work he could at least contribute.

Sprewell is the Knicks best player. If management can find a way to heal the wounds that currently exist, Sprewell may be able to return to the team. He will once again be playing out position, meaning he'll be guarding larger players each and every night. If some moves can be made during the season, which is not likely due to the number of mediocre Knicks receiving huge contracts, perhaps Sprewell can log some minutes at the shooting guard. If he were able to play the two every night, he'd be one of the better guards in the NBA.

With Sprewell's injury and subsequent banishment from the team, Shandon Anderson will find himself in the starting lineup at small forward. Anderson is a tremendous effort player and a strong defender. He's not the talent Sprewell is, but he doesn't come with the same baggage in tow. The Knicks overpaid Anderson in contract terms, but at least he'll earn that money with increased minutes this season.

GUARDS: Coach Don Chaney already said that Charlie Ward will start at the point guard position. Ward is on a pair of bad knees and was not that great a player to begin with. Howard Eisley is the other option at this point. Eisley is a career reserve, but with the lineup the Knicks will be running out there night after night he may find himself logging a career high in minutes. Rookie Frank Williams showed some promise and may be the point guard of the future. Williams suffered a wrist injury that required surgery back in July, so he will be brought along slowly by the club. As it seems to have been for almost a decade, point guard will be a weak spot for the Knicks.

Allan Houston, New York's $100 million man, will start at shooting guard. Houston is an above average player that's making superstar money. Granted, it's not his fault the team chose to over compensate him, but nevertheless Knick fans let him hear it almost every time he touches the ball. Houston is among the best pure shooters in the league, but he's a porous defender and often disappears in the fourth quarter.

BENCH: Due to injuries and overall lack of talent on the roster, it's somewhat difficult to distinguish between the starters and the reserves. Harrington will probably be the first frontcourt player off the bench. He will log heavy minutes due to the McDyess injury. Anderson is normally a staple on New York's pine, but with the Sprewell injury he will open the season in the starting lineup. Williams, when his wrist is ready, will come off the bench at point guard. He showed some promise in college, but many NBA coaches -- most notably Orlando's Doc Rivers -- did not like his attitude in pre-draft workouts. Eisley will be the first point guard off the bench. He was buried on the pine last season, but once again injuries will lead to increased playing time.

OUTLOOK: With McDyess and Sprewell in the lineup from the very beginning, the Knicks probably would have been a 45-win, playoff team in the East. Now, the season is over before it starts. New York will win between 25-30 games and head once again for the lottery. Maybe one of these days the Knicks will finally get under the salary cap and rebuild themselves towards respectability.