All basketball fans remember Stephon Marbury. An extremely talented player out of Georgia Tech, “Starbury” had what many would consider a successful career in the NBA, playing for 5 different franchises (Timberwolves, Brooklyn Nets, Suns, Knicks, Celtics) over the course of 13 seasons and averaging respectable career stats of 19.3 points per game and 7.6 assists per game. Marbury was the Nets starting point guard for several years and received an all-star appearance with the franchise in 2001, but injuries marred his tenure with the Nets and he was traded to Phoenix after that 2001 season for Jason Kidd, who would eventually be the missing piece in leading the Nets to the NBA finals.
In 2010, Marbury would leave the NBA to pursue a basketball career in China, where he would resurrect his career and go on to lead his team, the Beijing Ducks, to 3 CBA championships. Since the corona-virus pandemic began, Marbury has been a major contributor in lobbying for more masks to be made and shipped to New York City. On April 27th, Marbury released a documentary on his life and basketball career called “A Kid From Coney Island.”
Marbury Opens Up on Scoop B Radio in Recent Interview
The former Net sat down with Brandon “Scoop B” Robinson of Heavy.com on Scoop B Radio for an interview to discuss several topics.
One of the topics discussed was Marbury’s thoughts on how Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving will fit together once the two suit up for Brooklyn. “I think those two on the court is going to be pretty magical,” Marbury said. “I think it going to put things in perspective as far as how good they really are and what their capabilities are because Kyrie Irving is a different monster. And Kevin Durant is a different monster. And they two together because they have a good energy with each other and they’re on the same page they’re going to flow perfectly. So I think it’s gonna be good.” Coming from a former player, this is refreshing for Nets fans to hear. We have yet to see KD and Kyrie on the floor together, but if you agree with Marbury’s sentiment, it’s realistic to see this duo become one of the best in the league.
Another topic that Scoop B touched upon was Marbury’s short tenure in Minnesota playing with recently inducted Hall-of-Famer Kevin Garnett, and why Marbury doesn’t regret his decision to request a trade after only a few years into his career. “I couldn’t give seven years of my life living in Minnesota. I grew up in New York where it was a melting pot; Black, White, Chinese, Puerto Rican, Italian – all different types of races. And when I moved to Minnesota it was predominately white. After leaving Georgia Tech where I lived in Atlanta. So you go from a melting pot to a place where there is a lot of black people to where you go and it’s 6 percent black people. It was a culture shock for me. †Marbury explained. He went on to mention that the cold, winter Minnesota weather also played a factor in his decision to leave.
Finally, Marbury expressed his excitement for the Michael Jordan documentary, saying that “Jordan is not from this Earth” and “shouldn’t even be ranked” implying that there is no comparison to who Marbury believes is the great player of all time. Marbury would go on to say that the upcoming Michael Jordan documentary will deter the opinions of young fans who believe Lebron is a better player. Marbury recalled being “in awe” of Michael Jordan when the two met on the hardwood during Marbury’s rookie season.
Marbury would also go on to talk about the corona-virus in length and the differences in how China and the US have handled the outbreak, his experience participating in the 2001 all-star game, and how significant Yao Ming’s impact on the NBA was. He even shares his opinion on Spike Lee’s movie He Got Game, claiming that the talented director stole the story loosely based on Marbury’s life. You can listen to the entire interview here.
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