‘It’s the basketball hall of fame not the NBA hall of fame’: Stephon Marbury might be quitting hoops but is still calling the shots
Two-time NBA All-Star calls time on his 22-year career with final game for Chinese Basketball Association side Beijing Fly Dragons on February 11
Never a shrinking violet, Stephon Marbury has shown that even in announcing his retirement from playing professional basketball he still has the ability to dictate the headlines.
“It’s the Basketball Hall of Fame, not the NBA Hall of Fame,” Marbury said. “So, for basketball, I played in Olympics, I played in the Junior Olympics. With what I’ve done and given to basketball is all Hall of Fame.”
Much like his court time in the CBA, Marbury makes several good points.
“My numbers are Hall of Fame. That’s first,” he said. “You look at guys who have never won championships on the globe, they are in the Hall of Fame. Two, what I have done to help basketball globally to bridge the gap from America to China, with China being one of the main components on the Earth for basketball, that right there alone should bridge that gap.”
In the same interview “Starbury” described the NBA as a “stepping stone” that allowed him to fulfil his achievements in the Far East.
The soon to be 41-year-old will retire after the final game of the Beijing Fly Dragons regular season on February 11 and will hang up his sneakers as arguably the most beloved foreigner in Chinese sports.
He is immortalised in two statues in Beijing, one outside the Wukesong Arena and one outside the Ducks training complex in Wukesong.