Stephon Marbury

Stephon Xavier Marbury (born February 20, 1977) is an American former professional basketball player who is the head coach for the Beijing Royal Fighters of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA).

He was named a 1995 McDonald's All-American along with future NBA All-Stars Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, Shareef Abdur-Rahim, and Antawn Jamison.

Marbury was listed as one of the top five recruits in the country that year and was pursued by Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets coach Bobby Cremins, with whom he eventually committed.

At Georgia Tech, Marbury took over the starting point guard role left vacant with Travis Best's departure.

Teaming with future NBA players Matt Harpring and Drew Barry, Marbury led Georgia Tech to a 24–12 record en route to the Regional Semi-final game of the NCAA tournament, where the Yellow Jackets lost to Cincinnati 87–70.

For the season, Marbury averaged 18.9 ppg and 4.5 assists and was named a Third Team All American by the Associated Press, along with several conference honors.

After his freshman year with the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, he was selected as the 4th overall pick in the 1996 NBA draft by the Milwaukee Bucks, but was traded shortly thereafter to the Minnesota Timberwolves.

A two-time All-Star and two-time member of the All-NBA Team, Marbury played in the NBA from 1996 until 2009.

Following the season he declared himself eligible for the 1996 NBA draft.

He was selected fourth overall by the Milwaukee Bucks in the 1996 NBA draft, then traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves for the draft rights to Ray Allen (who was drafted immediately after him) and a future first-round pick.

In his first season in the league, Marbury averaged 15.8 points and 7.8 assists per game and was named to the 1997 All-Rookie Team.

He and second-year player Kevin Garnett led the Timberwolves to the NBA playoffs in 1997 and 1998.

During the 1997 NBA Playoffs, Marbury led Minnesota in scoring with 28 points during a first round Game 1 loss to the Houston Rockets.

During the lockout-shortened 1999 season, Marbury's agent, David Falk, demanded a trade.

Marbury said he wanted to be closer to his family and friends.

Other reports said he wanted to go to a market that would provide more endorsement opportunities, while others suggested that Marbury genuinely disliked Minnesota and was jealous of Kevin Garnett's new contract.

Marbury was ultimately traded to the New Jersey Nets in a three-way trade in which Terrell Brandon was sent from Milwaukee to Minnesota and Sam Cassell was sent from New Jersey to Milwaukee.

While in New Jersey, Marbury blossomed into an All-Star.

Marbury made the All-NBA 3rd Team in 2000 and was selected as a reserve for the 2001 All-Star Game, where he hit 2 clutch threes to win the game.

Marbury also scored a career-high 50 points on February 13, 2001, in an overtime loss against the Los Angeles Lakers.

Despite his individual accolades, the Nets never made the playoffs during Marbury's time with the team.

Marbury was traded to the Phoenix Suns along with Johnny Newman and Soumaila Samake in the 2001 offseason for Jason Kidd and Chris Dudley.

On November 30, 2002, Marbury scored a season-high 43 points, including 26 in the 4th quarter, to lead the Suns to a 94–87 win over the San Antonio Spurs.

As a Sun, Marbury made his second All-Star team and the All-NBA 3rd team in 2003.

Teamed with Rookie of the Year Amar'e Stoudemire and All-Star Shawn Marion, the trio took the team to the playoffs, but the Suns were ousted by the Spurs in the first round.

Marbury, Penny Hardaway and Cezary Trybański were traded to the New York Knicks on January 5, 2004, for Howard Eisley, Charlie Ward, Antonio McDyess, Maciej Lampe, draft rights to Miloš Vujanić, a first-round 2004 draft choice, and an additional future first-round draft choice.

This brought Marbury full circle, as he grew up in New York and was a lifelong Knicks fan.

Marbury played for the U.S. in the 2004 Summer Olympics, the first of the U.S. teams composed of NBA players to fail to win the gold medal at the Olympics.

He and his teammates returned with bronze.

During the 2005–06 season Marbury feuded with head coach Larry Brown.

Towards the end of the 2005–2006 season, the Knicks' poor performance combined with Marbury's public spats with his coach led to a severe decline in Marbury's popularity, with Frank Isola and Michael O'Keefe of the New York Daily News stating that Marbury is "the most reviled athlete in New York."

Despite the disappointment, Marbury scored a U.S. team Olympic record 31 points in a game against Spain (since eclipsed by Carmelo Anthony in 2012).

He then played in the CBA until his retirement in 2018.

Marbury has often gone by the nickname "Starbury", a name created during his youth.

Marbury, the sixth of seven children, was born and raised in the Coney Island neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York City.

He attended elementary school, PS 329.

During his teenage years, he starred at NYC powerhouse Abraham Lincoln High School, After his senior year Marbury was named New York State Mr. Basketball, after averaging 27.4 points, 8.3 assists and 3 steals per game.

He was often heralded as the next great NYC point guard, expected to follow the success of NBA stand-outs Mark Jackson and Kenny Anderson.

While still attending Abraham Lincoln High School he was one of the subjects of Darcy Frey's book The Last Shot, which followed three seniors and Marbury, a freshman, through the early months of his first season with the school's team.

In high school, he played for the renowned AAU team the New York Gauchos.