After 22 seasons in pro basketball, Stephon Marbury is finally retiring Feb. 11.
Yes, that would be the same Stephon Marbury who last played in the NBA almost a decade ago. Since leaving the league in 2009, Marbury has played in China, where he's starred on three China Basketball Association teams.
Marbury, 40, had a fine NBA career. A two-time All-Star, he averaged 19.3 points and 7.6 assists per game in 13 seasons. Those numbers alone won't earn him a spot in the Pro Basketball Hall of Fame, but Marbury told ESPN's The Undefeated his success overseas should help his case.
"My numbers are hall of fame. That's first," Marbury 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.
"It's the Basketball Hall of Fame, not the NBA Hall of Fame. 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."
A six-time CBA All-Star, Marbury is a hugely popular player in the China, even featured in a movie and on a postage stamp. He told The Undefeated it's much tougher playing in the country than people think.
"People don't even know how hard it is to play in China," Marbury said. "People think it is easy for the foreign players, but it is really not. It's difficult.
Marbury was the fourth overall pick in the loaded 1996 NBA Draft that included Kobe Bryant, Allen Iverson, Steve Nash and Ray Allen. Those players are all retired, and Marbury knows it's his time now.
"I'm tired, man. I'm tired. I played 22 years," Marbury said. "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."
