[McDunkin]

BEIJING (AP) Former NBA All-Star Stephon Marbury has agreed to three more years with a Chinese basketball team, whose owners will set up a company to produce and sell his line of athletic apparel and shoes, the team said Thursday.

Marbury played 15 games last season with Shanxi Zhongyu of the Chinese Basketball Association. The point guard was a fan favorite in the rustbelt city of Taiyuan, showing none of the defiant personality that had alienated management, teammates and fans in the U.S.

Marbury, 33, will play two more years and may be asked to become an assistant coach in the third, Shanxi said in an announcement on its website. His salary will be the same as last season, which was never publicly announced, but team owner Wang Xingjiang had said he offered Marbury $100,000 to play half a season in China.

As part of the deal, the ownership of Shanxi Zhongyu will create a company to produce and sell apparel and shoes from the point guard’s “Starbury” brand. The company will also open three Starbury shops, though details have not been decided, the team said.

Marbury has not yet signed the contract but will do so before the new season, the announcement said. He has returned to the U.S. and the rest of the Shanxi team will also travel there for training.

The New York City native was the highest-profile NBA player to join China’s professional basketball league but certainly not the first. The CBA depends heavily on foreign talent to raise the level of competition, though each team is only allowed to have two overseas athletes who play a combined six quarters per game.

http://weei.stats.com/nba/story.asp?i=20100729072427840000101&ref=hea&tm=&src=

[RUDEBOY_Participant]

good post..

he made a great move..becuz he’s no longer a starter in the nba…

isnt it weird how quickly some stars fall from grace?

Marbury,Steve Francis & Sprewell

[bballdave3Participant]

Yeah Sprewell probably shoulda done something like that, he’s tryin to feed his family right?

[bballdave3Participant]

Yeah Sprewell probably shoulda done something like that, he’s tryin to feed his family right?

[SupParticipant]

You broke people can be quiet now…

Anyway, way to go global. Shouts to Steph a dude that misunderstood, from the hood, and still does good. He is the man with the affordable shoe. And when Katrina happened I saw tears from his eyes, no one elses.

You broke people can talk again…

[PureshooterParticipant]

I actually think this is a very good move by Marbury. His basketball career, regardless of where he goes, is pretty much done. This was a great move to take the first steps in becoming a businessman and establishing his brand globally for life after basketball. He’s going to have three stores in one of the largest emerging markets in the world. He will also be setting up his clothing line to be produced in one of the cheapest labor markets in the world.

Also, it gets him out of the US for a while where people still have images of him crying on Youtube stuck in their minds. This could be a fresh start for him on the business side of things.

[ChewyParticipant]

It definitely will because the YouTube URL is banned in China lol

[Author]

Posts