As it is always for many of us at this time of the year, May means that Spring in full swing, and the Knicks are once again scratching and clawing their way through the playoffs. Usually this is not done without some sort of drama or storyline involving one or more players and even their coach, no matter who that has been, in the last 20 years.

This year, though, a young man is facing drama that transcends the basketball court. As we know by now that person is center Marcus Camby.

As the story goes, according to police, his sister’s ex-boyfriend allegedly came to Camby’s home in Connecticut in mid-April. The ex-boyfriend reportedly demanded to see Camby, but didn’t do so peacefully. He held both of Camby’s sisters and mother in the house, at knifepoint, for more than eight hours. In the process he allegedly sexually assaulted the woman he used to have a relationship with. During this standoff, Camby himself came to the house and was unable to do anything about his family’s dilemma on his own. The 6’11", 225 lb. athlete, who has been able to guide himself and his family, to all kinds of prosperity and achievements at that point, was powerless. He was just a guy whose family had become victims.

Despite all the drama, he made an attempt to still play the game, do his job, and put the tragedy behind him but he could not do it. Camby scored only two points and had only two rebounds as his team went on to get blown out by their opponents, the Toronto Raptors.

I have heard many people, especially fans, berate his efforts, and question his heart, using words like "weak," or "soft." They compare his situation with those of other athletes who have played through their own personal tragedies like Michael Jordan, and Yankees outfielder Paul O’ Neil. These observers say they want their team to have the best chance of winning and say that he is not doing what he is paid to do, and that is play.

It seems we often forget that athletes and celebrities, despite all of what appears to us to be super human achievements, are not super human. They are simply people, with all the frailties that come with being born of flesh, blood. In many cases, I would guess for them, the human experience could be more work, especially if all of their lives have been spent in a vacuum. In the case of Camby, a 27-year-old man, who has spent most of his life playing a game.

Making lots of money is not an inoculation from the variances of the human spectrum. It does not move you into the mental or emotional neighborhood that is the equivalent of the physical surroundings celebrity may afford a person.

Behind some of the pristine hedges and lawns of our own community, there is drama, sadness, and tragedies that are not openly portrayed to someone driving or walking by the front doors. There are people we know at work or at church, whom we think are ill but aren’t really. When that person is or has been "us," we become more sympathetic to the facade.

Ultimately the moral should be that life is bigger, than work or play. If family comes after work, then what or who are we working for? Even if what we do for a living isn’t a "game," it should not become "who we are" – it is simply "what we do." If you give up your family for your job or career, what do you have left when the career is complete — the job over and finished?

As a fan, I believe it would be better for Marcus Camby to be on the floor, with a strong sense of purpose, and somehow inspired by his pain to play like a madman, to help the Knicks win.

As a fellow human being, also playing in the bigger game of life, I know that might not be possible, since under similar circumstances I’m not sure I could ask the same of myself.