Stephon Marbury played his final professional basketball game on Sunday night for the Beijing Fly Dragons in the Chinese Basketball Association, and the 41-year-old former NBA star went out in fitting fashion.
Marbury took an opponent one-on-one, and showed off his streetball-esque handles before sinking a three on the last shot of his career. You see the dribbling skills that helped him get the “Starbury” nickname growing up playing hoops in Coney Island, and the shot-making ability that led him to average 19.3 points over 13 NBA season:
Marbury has become a basketball legend in China after beginning his post-NBA career there in 2010. He’s been a six-time CBA All-Star, a three-time CBA champion with the Beijing Ducks, and the CBA Finals MVP in 2015. There’s even a movie — with a crazy trailer — which he stars in about his Chinese hoops career.
Understandably, Marbury was very emotional after the game.
Now, it was reported in September that Marbury would like to make a return to the NBA. So perhaps he’d like to give that a shot still, and maybe a bad NBA team looking to sell some tickets over the remainder of the regular season would sign him. It’s gimmicky, but a terrible team like the Sacramento Kings has to try to get people in the building over these final few months (and they’re better off tanking anyway).
The two-time NBA All-Star told Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated last week that he plans to stay in shape for a potential NBA return, but he’s at peace with the idea of his pro basketball career ending.
Although Marbury plans to stay in shape — “just in case” an NBA team calls this season — he says he’s “at peace” with his pro career ending in China.
“I’m tired, man. I’m tired. I played 22 years,” Marbury, whose 41st birthday is on Feb. 20, told The Undefeated. “It’s all good. I’m straight with how it is right now. I like being able to have control over going out the way I want to go out. I’m 100 percent at peace with it. One hundred percent.”