New York ? Stephon Marbury accused Larry Brown of trying to drag him into a public dispute and said the coach was making their ongoing feud a personal one.

Another explosive day in the deteriorating Marbury-Brown relationship included the player calling his coach insecure and promising to “defend myself” for as long as Brown continues to criticize him publicly.

“I’m no longer going to allow him to say things about me (and) I’m not going to say anything back,” Marbury said at Wednesday morning’s shootaround. “That’s just not going to happen. I allowed him to drag me the first three, four months in the paper and I didn’t say one word. I just sat back and took it. I’m not taking it any more. If something is going to be said, I’m going to defend myself. My mother taught me that if somebody hits you, hit them back.”

When informed of Marbury’s comments about fighting back, Brown said sarcastically, “That’s great. That’s great.”

The feud between Marbury and Brown is turning uglier by the day, while the Knicks are becoming the NBA’s biggest laughingstock on and off the court. One of the two will not be back next season, and unless Brown walks away, the most logical solution is that Marbury either will be traded or released.

Brown reiterated that he had no intention of leaving behind the final four years of his contract. But Brown continues to hint that he and Marbury can’t work together because Marbury has a personal agenda, not a team one.

“If you’re the best player, surely you’re going to have some effect on the outcome of a game,” Brown said. “And I’ve said this from Day One: I’ve never given anybody in my career more free rein. In my career. And I went to the conference finals (in Indiana) with Haywood Workman as a point guard. With Eric Snow, who was the fourth-string point guard in Seattle. He went to the NBA Finals (with Philadelphia).”