Stephon Marbury, the meteoric New York City hoops legend and former NBA star, has announced his retirement as a player from the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA), effective at the end of the 2017-2018 season. The announcement came Sunday via Marbury’s Twitter account.
Marbury has enjoyed a unique ride to basketball stardom. He first appeared on the radar in the United States as a subject in Darcy Frey’s cult classic basketball novel, ‘The Last Shot.’ Marbury was just a teen then, weighed down by the unfulfilled expectations of his two older brothers; basketball stars who almost-but-not-quite made it to the National Basketball Association, or NBA.
Marbury went on to be a very successful performer in the NBA from the late nineties to the mid-aughts, making two All-NBA teams and two All-Star teams. Marbury’s time in the ‘Land of the Free’ came to a crescendo in 2004 when he was selected to represent USA Men’s Basketball in the Athens Olympics.
Towards the end of his career in America, Marbury did little to dispel the popular notion that he was a mercurial, eccentric and overpaid player. By the time his NBA career was on the wane with the Boston Celtics in 2009, he was known more for his short-lived signature shoe, ‘The Starbury,’ that retailed for only USD15 than he was for his once world-class slashing and passing abilities.
Marbury then ended up in China, playing first for Shanxi and then for Foshan. The move was largely derided at the time as an attempt by a washed-up American to chase one last payday playing basketball. The consensus: Marbury’s goose was cooked.
But then something strange happened. That metaphorical goose turned out to be a Duck, a Beijing Duck to be precise. In Beijing, Marbury found the fountain of youth and led Beijing’s traditionally woebegone CBA team, named after the city’s famous food delicacy, to three CBA championships.
Gone were the public spats with media and front office personnel. In were CCTV appearances and kindly interactions with fans. He even wrote an occasional column for the China Daily and by all accounts, fully integrated himself into the fabric of his surrogate homeland while playing for the Beijing Ducks.
In return, Marbury became near universally adored by Chinese fans and saw his notability increase in America as audiences saw Marbury crawl out of his Chinese chrysalis, emerging as a cult hero of sorts.
Marbury will duke it out on the hardwood for one last year. When he retires, he will be the last member of the vaunted 1996 NBA draft class to be playing competitive basketball. Considering the rough and tumble road he took from NYC’s Coney Island to China, Marbury deserves every minute of spotlight he gets during his year-long victory lap.
China will certainly miss him and in an interview with Marc Spears of The Undefeated, Stephon revealed that his huge brand and aforementioned cult hero status earned in the far east will lead to a bevy of marketing and endorsement opportunities from the NBA as they continue to try to conquer China, something Marbury did the second he stepped on the floor in Beijing.
READ MORE: Stephon Marbury Gets Chinese Green Card
[Images via One World Sports, GQ]
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