Former NBA All-Star, Stephon Marbury, has agreed to continue to play basketball in China for three more years. He played 15 games last season with Shanxi Zhongyu of the Chinese Basketball Association where he averaged 22.8 points, 9.8 assists and was actually a fan favorite. Marbury will play two more years for the Chinese club and may be asked to become an assistant coach in the third year. The deal also states that Shanxi Zhongyu will create a company to produce and sell apparel from Steph’s Starbury brand. Starbury shops may also open up.
All of that sounds nice and everything, but I’d much rather see Steph in the NBA. At only 33 years old, he definitely has enough game to play in the league and should be on an NBA roster. Marbury’s career long criticism is that teams get better when he leaves. While I’m not completely disagreeing with that notion (facts are facts), for a guy who has averaged 19.3 points and 7.6 assists for his career, maybe that is misleading to a degree.
The beginning of the end for Steph in the NBA was when he was still in New York and the Knicks hired Mike D’Antoni as head coach. Long story short, D’Antoni inexplicably banished Marbury from the team (apparently thinking Chris Duhon gave them a better chance to win) and Marbury was perceived as a malcontent. Because he was told to stay away from the team, Knicks brass wanted to negotiate a buyout for his $21M salary since he wasn’t playing. That didn’t interest Marbury at all. Realizing that this was the last year for him to make that kind of money, he wanted to make sure he got all that was owed to him. Wouldn’t you? Makes sense to me. But, that’s another story for another time.
He eventually found his way onto the Celtics later that year where he didn’t really have a major role with the then defending champs. And before you knew it, he was gone just like that.
Steph has always rubbed people the wrong way. It started when he forced his way out of Minnesota. He said it was because he missed his family and the New York area, but most think it’s because he didn’t want to play in Kevin Garnett’s shadow. There’s no telling what they could’ve done together. At first I gave him the benefit of the doubt that he actually did miss home. But, a few years later when he was dealt to Phoenix, he looked a little too happy to go. As if he didn’t miss home anymore. Let’s not forget the Vaseline eating incident either. But, what actually had me scratching my head was when he thought it would be a good idea to get a tattoo on the side of his head of his Starbury logo. By far the most ignorant thing I’ve ever seen. The man is definitely a little off, but I digress.
For years, I felt he was a top 5 point guard in the NBA, but he never really got that kind of recognition. We forget just how good he actually was because he never played for a winner. If you want to say that’s his fault, then fine. It is what it is. But my point is that he is definitely good enough to play in the NBA. The last time we saw him, he was still playing at a high level.
Marbury’s goal was to land a job in the NBA. That hasn’t happened, but he has embraced playing in China because it gives him the opportunity to get his brand known internationally. That seems important to him, so I don’t think he’s completely broken up. And besides, his Starbury brand has no chance at doing anything significant here because more people dislike than like him. Whether that’s right or wrong, it’s true.
I hope he continues to thrive out there in China but I think it’s nothing short of a travesty that Stephon Marbury is playing in China and not the NBA.
If you’re looking for your everyday, predictable basketball talk, then go somewhere else, because Kevin Burke of The Kevin Burke Project brings provocative, thought provoking content about basketball as only he can. Kevin also hosts The Hoop Doctors weekly podcast show, which you can subscribe too for free on iTunes.
