How the former hoops star went from NBA outcast to international trailblazer
tephon Marbury was heading to practice with his Beijing Ducks on an October morning when his old NBA nightmares started to haunt him again.
“They don’t want me at the game tonight,” Marbury said during the ride on Oct. 12.
Seven years removed from the hard crash of his NBA career, Marbury has become a Jordanesque basketball figure in Beijing. Imagine how an NBA player would be treated if he led the Washington Wizards to a championship in the nation’s capital. That’s essentially what Marbury did in China, leading the Ducks to their first Chinese Basketball Association title and three in four years in that nation’s capital. And, boy, did Beijing ever show its appreciation.
There is a statue of him holding up the 2012 Chinese Basketball Association trophy above his head outside the home arena. He is in another statue celebrating the first title along with two of his teammates outside of the practice arena. There is a Marbury museum about five kilometers from Tiananmen Square showcasing his entire basketball career, filled with old trophies, jerseys and other hoop artifacts as well as a gift shop.
There was a Broadway-type musical centering on his life that he actually acted and danced in for 11 nights. He is acting as the lead in My Other Home, a Chinese film based on his life that is expected to debut in 2017 with cameos from Allen Iverson and Baron Davis. He also has a Chinese postage stamp, was honored as a role model by the local government and has a Chinese green card.
Marbury is quite possibly the most popular African-American in the city’s history and likely the country, too. And the Ducks are expected to be the last basketball team he plays for professionally. Now with one more year left on his Beijing contract, he said he didn’t entertain an inquiry from the Houston Rockets after winning his first title in China in 2012.
“I basically kept telling them I wasn’t interested, and I really wasn’t,” said Marbury. “That was not where my mind was. They had just talked about erecting a statue for me and the last thing I was thinking about was playing back in the NBA.”
Marbury is the last notable draftee still playing from an illustrious 1996 NBA draft class that included Allen Iverson, Kobe Bryant, Ray Allen, Steve Nash, Jermaine O’Neal, Peja Stojakovic, Marcus Camby and Derek Fisher. He averaged 19.3 points, 7.6 assists and 1.2 steals per game during his 13-year NBA career, including averaging over 21 points and eight assists while with the New Jersey Nets and Phoenix Suns. The two-time NBA All-Star believes that if it weren’t for his last two seasons struggling with the New York Knicks and Boston Celtics, respectively, he would have averaged more than 20 points and eight assists for his NBA career.
“I remember those days when it wasn’t fun with what I contributed on and off the court. I thought the league was mad about me messing up their money in Minnesota,” Marbury said.
Marbury believes his problems in the NBA began when he received his wish and was traded from the Minnesota Timberwolves, ending his star matchup with Kevin Garnett in 1999. Marbury said he wanted to leave primarily because the harsh Minneapolis winters were too cold for him and caused him too many dangerous spinouts on the roads.
Marbury believes his outspoken nature didn’t jibe with the NBA either. He put a tattoo of his Starbury logo on his bald head. He sold affordable basketball sneakers for $15 while chastising Michael Jordan for selling expensive basketball shoes that inner-city kids have killed each other over. Marbury didn’t think former NBA commissioner David Stern was a fan of his either during his reign.
“It was basically set in stone of who they were going to push and how they were going to push them … ,” Marbury said. “The people who complained, who had strong personalities, were basically speaking truth and what’s real instead of falling back, just staying quiet and not being penalized for it. Guys now have more of a voice.”
Marbury’s NBA career started spiraling to an end when coach Mike D’Antoni of his hometown Knicks benched him during the 2008-09 season. While on the pine, Marbury says, he began thinking about life after basketball before the Knicks released him on Feb. 21, 2009. D’Antoni declined comment on Marbury’s Knicks days, but wished him the best through ESPN.com’s Calvin Watkins. Marbury finished the 2008-09 season, his last in the NBA, coming off the bench for the Celtics.
“It hurt more because of the way it was done. We were winning by a lot of points and he still didn’t put me in,” Marbury said.
In July 2009, Marbury streamed a 24-hour meltdown about his life and basketball career live on the internet that received a lot of criticism. At that time, he said, he was in a “depressed state” and was still mourning the recent deaths of his father, aunt and childhood basketball coach.
“It was pretty much isolation,” Marbury said. “All of what I’ve done and given to the game, at the time I felt I didn’t have the support system I needed in order to get back on my feet. I was in a dark place where I was not feeling like myself.”
After turning down his lone NBA offer with the Celtics during the 2009 offseason, Marbury often lay in bed depressed, eating not much more than cereal. Inspiration from his wife, Tasha, later got him thinking about a return to basketball. In January 2010, he became the first notable NBA player to depart to play in China, starting with Shanxi.
“There were like 5,000 fans [at the airport]. To be greeted the way I was greeted was amazing,” said Marbury, who arrived solo without his wife and three kids.
Three championships and six years later, the old Marbury is back in China and still thriving at 39 years old.
About the Author
Mark Schlarbaum, Irvine, California