Knicks coach Mike D’Antoni has spent his time since he arrived in New York as a loser. He made a rep as a Euro-influenced coach, elevated in the U.S. by innovative former Phoenix owner, Jerry Colangelo. His Suns team was exciting to watch with their “seven seconds or less” offense, led by Steve Nash, that ran and shot the ball with abandon. The Suns were fun, but they lacked the final step to claim an NBA title. D’Antoni was given permission to talk to others and new GM Steve Kerr and owner Robert Sarver began selling off parts.

D’Antoni accepted a $6 million annual salary to coach the Knicks for four years and since his arrival in May 2008, has presided over a lost cause in basketball’s mecca. His roster has been ill-suited to his style, and the team’s mantra has been to clear cap room to make a free agent run at LeBron James in 2010.

So meanwhile, D’Antoni frustrates on the sidelines. His current team has lost twice as many games as it has won. He sat through 82 pathetic games last year. And he’s likely to do a lot of the same in 2009-10. He hopes for a playoff spot, likely with a losing record, so he can point to progress. Along the way, he seems to treat certain disappointing players like Virgil Sollozzo and Bruno Tattaglia treated Luca Brasi.

Last year it was Stephon Marbury. A former star player with big talent, a bigger ego and a petty side. Marbury was paid close to $20 million in the final year of a stupid contract. After a short trial, D’Antoni labeled Marbury as a square peg in a round hole for his system. Marbury’s ego, fueled by his self-proclaimed stature and salary, bitterly fought back by talking to anyone who would listen, creating a larger crevice between coach and player. Marbury was moved from the end of the bench to person-non-grata and was completely exiled away from the team and sent home. With his salary, no team showed interest until Boston picked him up for its bench for the playoffs. No team showed any interest in the 32-year old guard this off season when he was a free agent.

This season, All Star and Slam Dunk champ, Nate Robinson, is receiving similar treatment. Robinson has sat for consecutive games since late November. A fan favorite and a freakish athlete for a 5′ 9″ player, Robinson has a horrible habit of expressing himself which continually reflects poorly on him and his team. Despite his many talents and energy, Nate’s head renders him unplayable according to D’Antoni.

Another off season pickup, 24-year old, 7 footer, Darko Milicic, was supposed to offer help down low and perhaps reveal his talents that made him the overall #2 pick behind James in 2003. Instead, Darko has been relegated by D’Antoni to a place that he is all but too familiar with, the end of the bench with a DNP in the box score.

So with his habit of relegating players to “sleep with the fishes,” will this reflect for or against D’Antoni to those players considering the Knicks next year? Some may be attracted to his no nonsense style, but when you have a track record for disposing of multi-million dollar players, maybe there are softer places to land.