Stephon Marbury’s two seasons playing in the Chinese Basketball Association has been drama-free up to this point, that is until the latest headline claiming the former NBA all-star point guard struck a fan after a CBA playoff loss.
According to multiple reports, Marbury and his Beijing Ducks teammates were trapped in their team van after their 102- 100 road loss on Sunday to the Shanxi Brave Dragons — the team Marbury originally played for when he signed in China in 2010.
While fans and Marbury had to be separated by guards, Marbury denies hitting anyone.
One headline even claimed that the fan had to be taken to a hospital.
“He got a wild imagination. His imagination is not correct. He made that up. He made that story up,” Marbury said.
“That never happened. I have no reason to punch anybody, especially a fan. I would never punch a fan in the face. That doesn’t make any sense. But I think he’s lying.”
The game, in which Marbury finished with 25 points, was apparently intense. Water bottles littered the court after a perceived bad call against Shanxi and the game had to be stopped for 10 minutes. The best-of-five series (tied at 2-2) has seen Marbury go for 52 points and 53 points, with Wednesday’s game determining who will reach the CBA finals.
The website Beijing Cream has both game footage and firsthand postgame video of Shanxi fans blocking the Beijing team bus, including comments from Beijing’s General Manger, Yuan Chao.
“After the game last night, we left the stadium at around 9:40 pm. As the players walked through the players’ tunnel to go to the bus, the head coach was standing in the front and Marbury was the last,” Chao explained.
“Next to Marbury was his translator and the players’ trainer. When we exited the stadium, there were many fans crowding around outside. They were shouting loudly abusively. When we exited, there were also two security guards who had to help us barricade a path. So when Marbury exited, he had his translator and the two security guards next to him. When he exited, the fans didn’t just shout out abuses loudly, but they also threw things at the players, such as stones and water bottles. At that point, our players were just ducking and covering their heads. Under that situation, Marbury couldn’t have thrown a punch at a fan, let alone kick continuously.”
While the details of the events regarding Marbury (his response at the 1:23 mark above) and a fan remain sketchy at best, it’s worth mentioning Marbury’s experience over the last two years has been life changing in many ways.
After 13 years in the NBA with Minnesota, New Jersey, Phoenix, New York and Boston, Marbury seems to be basking in the glow this season playing for the Ducks as the last chapter in this hoops story unfolds overseas. Marbury not only is at home in China but equally at peace. Believe it or not, he has remade his image overseas and has become the face of the CBA, in a league that served home to J.R. Smith, Kenyon Martin, Wilson Chandler, Aaron Brooks and Patty Mills over the last few months.
In China, Marbury is a media icon combined with a basketball God: he constantly appears on national TV, writes a regular column for the China Daily Newspaper and apparently has 163,000 followers on China’s version of Twitter.
His affinity for the people of China even reached a point this season where Marbury said he’d like to coach the national team in China one day.
The tabloid trouble that once comprised his days playing for the New York Knicks and his saga with then head coach Larry Brown and Isiah Thomas, has since morphed into a slice of serenity. The drama has been replaced by peace and a different kind of ink: Marbury now has his Chinese name tattooed across his forearm — “Ma Bu Li”.
It’s all part of the rebirth of Stephon Marbury.
In the last two games on their home floor, Marbury has scored 105 points for the Ducks and there’s no doubt he’ll be ready to play come Wednesday. Still, he has to deal with the drama first.
“I didn’t do that,” Marbury said regarding the reported incident. “How could I do that over the security guards?”
