Knicks visit the New Jersey Nets. Stephon Marbury is a retired professional basketball player who has a net worth of $60 million. He has three children: Xaviera, Stephon II, and Stephanie. The Marbury Brothers. Right, Born: In January 1999, Frey writes in the postscript, in an incident that many of his friends say they believe was intentional, he was walking along some train tracks next to the beach in San Clemente, listening to his Walkman, when he was struck from behind by an Amtrak passenger train. Stephon Marbury, David Stern and Ray Allen. [43], In 2014, Marbury was named one of the Top 10 Model Citizens for Beijing due to his commitment to the Beijing community and the charity work he provided for it. He's charismatic, funny, clearly angling for a reaction. Thats the kind of claustrophobic environment that led Darryle to believe that without a scholarship, his life was effectively over. Im gonna come every day, Im gonna come to class, that was something new, Frey says of spending so much time with them. FN once praised the shoe as having the 2006 Launch of the Year. Stephon Marbury, future NBA All-Star, grabbed his diploma in June, 1995, during a brief ceremony at Abraham Lincoln High, an oversized, yellow-brick school off Ocean Parkway in Coney Island. Hed end up spending a season with Abraham Lincoln High Schools storied basketball program and meeting a quartet of marvelous, nearly doomed teenagers including a 14-year-old phenom named Stephon Marbury. When speaking about him now, Frey doesnt call him Darryle: [Its] not what his name is, but I think of him as Russell., Remembering Marbury, Freysays, He was just a larger-than-life character, even as a 13-year-old. And the NCAA eventually decreed that Frey could no longer sit in on Tchakas recruiting visits. That was a big game. But in his tailored sweatpants and Jordan XIIs, he still looks trim and fleet and ready for the court. I always wanted for people to feel like they had options., The book still feels alive to Johnson. As each Marbury brother has failed to stick, his professional aspirations have slid down to the next, until all have accumulated in the catch basin that is Stephon. There is also Zach Marbury, Stephons younger brother, who had a near-shot at the NBA, but ended up playing pro ball in Venezuela. The high school in the movie, Abraham Lincoln, is where Marbury attended high school. By the time he was in high school, they had all gone off to play college basketball, meaning they were the perfect age to guide Marbury through his own development and transition. But now, Shipp speaks plainly: Basketball allowed me to get my degree and learn about the world. [32], On July 19, 2017, Marbury announced that for his last season, he would play for the Beijing Fly Dragons. Following the incident and Marbury's return to the team in mid-November after one missed game, Knick fans consistently chanted "fire Isiah" at home games and constantly booed virtually all of the Knicks, especially Marbury. He is a staff writer for Grantland. Krafts shoe factory in Manchester when he was laid off after 42 years. 3 had been retired in honor of Dennis Johnson. [40], In 2001, Marbury donated $250,000 of the money derived from Pepsi sponsorships to help victims of the September 11 attacks. I mean, Steph, then Sebastian [Telfair], then Lance [Stephenson], and all these years later theres still no sight of these things.. Both an excellent distributor and a lethal scorer, his career stat line deserves a Hall of Fame node according to many fans and analysts. . 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. 5:56; Marbury talks trash after Fredette scuffle. 2023 ESPN Internet Ventures. Marbury's three older brothers were all gifted basketball players who narrowly missed NBA careers. [34], On June 24, 2019, Marbury was named head coach of the Beijing Royal Fighters of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA). Over the years, they have been involved in some extremely public infidelity scandals. In fact, he won three of them, all with the Beijing Ducks, in 2012, 2014, and 2015. The book was illustrated by Ryan Nakai. By Stephons fifth birthday, brother Donnies deadly jumper seemed to be his ticket out. Johnsons point, though, isnt really directed at Coney Islands proud sons. 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. And as anyone whos ever fallen asleep on a Brooklyn-bound subway can tell you, Coney Island is the end of the line. Donnie, who graduated from a fourth college, is now substitute teaching and coaching Zach at Lincoln. Prigioni is not better than me, man!, Filed Under: Basketball, Books, The Last Shot, Darcy Frey, Stephon Marbury, Coney Island, Lincoln High School, NYC Basketball. Shoots: [44], In 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Marbury worked with a China supplier to sell millions of masks at cost to assist first responders and hospital workers in New York City. In 2007, Marbury co-authored his first children's book with Marshall Dean entitled The Adventures of Young Starbury: Practice Makes Perfect. in 1996, by Milwaukee, which immediately traded him to. AP. Marbury said at Find out more. Stephon Marbury tries to deliver masks to New York while coping with family death from the coronavirus. Dennis Rodman spoke at the ceremony. He did it to make money off of young black kids in the hood. In the summer of 1991, Darcy Frey then a 29-year-old freelance writer ventured into the Coney Island projects, looking for a story. There was a big crisis in the project, Frey says now. Failures, neighbors whisper, even though they were all college men. Point Guard Stephon Marbury is not in the Hall of Fame. We get to know our cast of characters. Great, lets talk. Corey dreamed about a future in the arts and plotted to use the book to launch his career in publishing. [28] He then scored 32 points in an away game against Liaoning. out the arena by security shortly after the game. It took me a while to see that. He is the fifth American basketball player to receive a green card in China. Amos Barshad has written for New YorkMagazine, Spin, GQ, XXL, and the Arkansas Times. I could have played with those guys.. Its an incredibly inefficient process, Frey laughs. You can see Corey in action, wearing no. [42], In 2007, Marbury donated $4,000,000 to New York City, $1,000,000 each to the NYPD, FDNY, EMT, and New York City Teacher's Fund. He returned to Brooklyn, where he works construction. I could take [Knicks point guard Pablo] Prigionis spot! However, on February 11, 2018, Marbury played his final game in the CBA, scoring 20 points in a 10492 win over the Jiangsu Dragons, and announced his retirement from basketball. His editors at the magazine kept prodding him for further details from his personal experience: They said, You keep talking about getting kicked out of Coney Island whats that all about? I started adding more first-person stuff, and a little bit about my shifting understanding. Darcy showed up in my junior year, after the first three seasons of the media attention and the newspaper people, Johnson recalls, and I just felt like, Wow, you showed up already? Stephon Marbury, died Sunday night during the team's home loss to the Phoenix Suns. yelling, "Jesus, that's how!" But one by one, they fell short. Zach Marbury, Stephon Marbury's little brother, keeps it 100! In May 2017, Marbury expressed interest in helping Big Baller Brand partner with a Chinese sports apparel company.[49]. [36], Stephon's father Don died during a December 2, 2007, game between the Knicks and the Phoenix Suns. The ex-NBA player with 13 years worth of experience talked about his love of basketball from the very beginning in it, but what somehow caught our attention the most was his family talking about his career, their perception of his life, and how proud they are of him. Corey missed 700 on the SAT by 10 points, then washed out of a Texas junior college; he was back in Coney Island, still an aspiring writer. The public feud between Marbury and Brown was one of the reasons Larry Brown was fired at the end of the 200506 season. 5 pick (Ray Allen) and a future first-round selection. For each, pro basketball seemed just a few sweet shots away. They introduced him to their sisters and mothers. on his mother's side of the family, died Nov. 19. [19] In his first game, Marbury, suffering from jet lag, contributed 15 points, 4 rebounds, 8 assists, and 4 steals in 28 minutes of action. Not even knowing that I was gonna be kept away from it. Johnson is careful not to blame Frey, but being left out of much of the books promotion stings him to this day. his younger brother Ethan and their half-brother Jamel Thomas, there was a support . Connect with the definitive source for global and local news. Now, Johnson recalls how terrifying the situation was. Many, many days of utter boredom and repetition. Three tractor trailers of sneakers and T-shirts is cool, but can you build a community center? Then I thought and it wasnt that original an idea: a high school basketball team. 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. 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. During the 20112012 season, the Beijing Ducks, led by Stephon Marbury, started out the season with a 130 record. Stephon, of course, was earning eight figures with his hometown Knicks. All rights reserved. On September 14, 2002, in New York City, New York, Stephon Marbury tied the knot with LaTasha in a beautiful ceremony surrounded by their friends and family. He and second-year player Kevin Garnett led the Timberwolves to the NBA Playoffs in 1997 and 1998. Stephon Marbury Stats and news - NBA stats and news on New York Knicks Guard Stephon Marbury. Its my real life! The Marburys, like dominoes, followed one another to Lincoln High School. I remember everything like it was yesterday, he says. I realized the obstacles I ran into were sort of the same obstacles these kids were running into: In terms of the hypocrisy of the NCAA, in terms of a desperate need for money, in terms of the suspicion, and the anxiety about being exploited. Donnie was a high-scoring guard with a lethal shot. I had my outfits and everything. I have a credential from basketball. And when I start to ask if he still thinks about the NBA, he cuts me off: Of course! Academic excellence was once standard at Lincoln. [37], Stephon's brother Zach has played professional basketball in Venezuela. The skeleton of the abandoned parachute jump stands empty, rusting. ``He was the anointed one since he was a young boy, the one to make it to the NBA. This was the highest number of assists Marbury had produced in a single game since his tenure with the Ducks began. Tchaka Shipp, newly married, now lives in Houston, where he works early mornings as a UPS package handler and afternoons as a high school English teacher. Even though theyve lost touch, hes proud of his cousin Stephon, and proud of how this community made Stephon stronger. He also left the team during a road trip when coach Isiah Thomas Lee used Marbury, a Coney Island high school phenom, as his muse for the 1998 film "He Got Game," which focused on a . He has played in the NBA from 1996 to 2009 representing New Jersey Nets, Phoenix Suns, New York Knicks and Boston Celtics. But Coney Island, as he writes in The Last Shot, is not New York City: Surrounded on three sides by water, and cut off on the fourth by the great ethnic divide of Brighton Beach, the Coney Island peninsula feels like a separate territory, as removed from the rest of New York as Guam. The neighborhoods pitfalls marked back then by the ever-encroaching drug trade were omnipresent. Coney Islands first family of hoops grew up one block from the beach and a million miles from nowhere. It says something that Spike Lee models Jesus after your life. There are shoes currently available on Starbury.com on sale for as low as $9.98 . Thatd give me the access, and the arc of a season, and the potential for drama. A very good guy. If Id spoken to him five or 10 years earlier, its possible this stuff wouldnt roll off the tongue so breezily. 4,822 views Aug 25, 2017 29 Dislike Share Save Hoop Story 45 subscribers Having Steph as a brother was a burden for Zach Marbury:. Stephon Marbury was drafted by Milwaukee Bucks, 1st round (4th pick, 4th overall), 1996 NBA Draft. [1] During his teenage years, he starred at NYC powerhouse Abraham Lincoln High School,[2] 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. Grady was running a furious full-court press that game. Shortly after Stephon's birth, the elder Marbury brothers set about molding him into a. I stopped going to Lincoln every day. What are you doing? Before he hangs up, I ask for a favorite basketball memory, and he quickly obliges: It was against Grady High School, Lincolns rival. Marbury later participated in the CBA All-Star match between the North and the South teams, contributing 30 points and 10 assists for the North team. said he had an encounter with Marbury when he was a doorman at a club. Games. Garden. [47] Starbury has also announced plans to open dozens of stores and a distributorship in China. And its not like Im lost somewhere, hooked on drugs. The brothers were born into a poor family of Irish immigrants in rural New Hampshire in the early 1900s, and saw their father struggle later in life. He specifically asked Silver to "be the one to make the hard, easy decision." The family patriarch, Don, is known as ``The Creator for his progeny (the youngest Marbury, Zach, is a sophomore guard at Lincoln). For Freys subjects, it seemed, the only way forward was through the courts. He says he never wanted money, but he was convinced this would be his ticket to another world. He pays the attendant in advance, Brooklyn-dodges his way across the street, then ducks into Hasan's Atlanta's Finest. Marbury soon proved his talent in Minnesota, averaging 15.8 points and 7.8 assists in his rookie season. And Darryle had torn up juco and Division II schools before losing his way. He became the first international citizen to earn such an honor since its inception by the Beijing government. Stephon Marbury won 0 championships. Yes, he is. It's also available for football, hockey and baseball. Or write about sports? Marbury, now 42, grew up in the housing projects of Coney Island, New York, and watched as his three college basketball-playing brothers fail to make the pros. Here's everything we know, The paths of KD and Kyrie: How one month changed three franchises and two superstar legacies, From bubble struggles to NCAA seed improvement, why these final weekend games matter, Foden's return to form helps mask De Bruyne's troubles, Nelson sends Arsenal into euphoria with last-gasp winner over Bournemouth. After the book came out, I tried to put him in touch with some people who I thought could help him as a writer, and I sent a book manuscript of his to one of them; and whenever I was asked to do an interview about the book, Id always ask if theyd like one of the players to join me in the studio. On March 30, 2014, Marbury won a second CBA championship with the Beijing Ducks. The SPORTS REFERENCE and STATHEAD trademarks are owned exclusively by Sports Reference LLC. Stephon Marbury. I was like 13. Despite his individual accolades, the Nets never made the playoffs during Marbury's time with the team. To varying degrees, readers witnessed Corey, Darryle, Tchaka, and Stephon get caught in the gears of a machine ostensibly meant to catapult them forward. Dr. A's weekly risers and fallers: Jeremy Sochan, Christian Wood make the list. I didnt forget about you. inBrooklyn,New York 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. 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. Marbury had been speculated to join the Boston Celtics by many NBA analysts since late 2008, and on February 27, 2009, Marbury signed with the Celtics. [3] 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. [60], Last edited on 22 February 2023, at 00:57, The Adventures of Young Starbury: Practice Makes Perfect, List of National Basketball Association career assists leaders, "Marbury latest member of Tech point guard tradition", "The fall of a Starbury: Troubled ride of Coney Island's hoop prodigy", "Knicks fire Brown, name Thomas new coach", "Knicks' Marbury admits luring woman into car in sexual harassment testimony", "Thomas's Knicks Reign Appears Near an End", "Thomas Won't Coach, but He Stays With Knicks", "Sources: D'Antoni accepts offer, chooses Knicks over Bulls", "Marbury differs with D'Antoni on refusal to play", "MARBURY PLANNED TO WATCH KNICKS PLAY LAKERS - New York Post", Marbury rips Knicks, coach, says he'll sit out season, "Jetlagged Marbury makes first appearance in Asia", "Marbury Lauds Taiyuan: 'Nothing But Love', "Ex-NBA player Marbury switches teams in China", "Marbury scores 41 as team wins 1st China title", "Stephon Marbury Statue Officially Unveiled In China, Dennis Rodman Gives Dedication Speech,", "A fantastic start for me and the Ducks|Top News", "Beijing beat Liaoning to win CBA championship", "STEPHON MARBURY ANNOUNCES RETIREMENT PLANS FOR AFTER 201718 CBA SEASON", "Stephon Marbury is parting ways with Beijing Ducks after three titles", "Stephon Marbury, Beijing Fly Dragons Agree to Contract for Guard's Final Season", "Stephon Marbury retires from basketball following final game in China", "Stephon Marbury Named Head Coach of CBA's Beijing Royal Fighters", "Stephon Marbury's Wild Ride on the Front End of the Coronavirus Pandemic", Suns stifle Knicks behind Hill; Marbury's father dies, Zach Marbury, Stephon's Brother, Will Play in Venezuela, Stephon Marbury's cousin Jamel Thomas writes about NBA star, Marbury and Houston Join Players Association to Help Hurricane Victims, "Stephon Marbury Named one of Beijing's Top Ten Model Citizens", "Stephon Marbury sets up deal to deliver 10M masks to NY amid coronavirus crisis", "Stephon Marbury Wants to Work Together with Big Baller Brand", "9780979825002: Practice Makes Perfect (The Adventures of Young Starbury) AbeBooks Stephon Marbury with Marshall Dean: 0979825008", "MVP's Gimmick Based Off NBA Player Stephon Marbury", "Stephon Marbury Web Show: The Dark Side of Live Streaming", "Stephon Marbury streams 24-hour meltdown live on the Internet", "Stephon Marbury on UStream.com: 24 Hours of Performance-Art Therapy", "Stephon Marbury admits he was depressed, suicidal at time of Vaseline video", "Stephon Marbury Is Starring in a Chinese Musical About Himself", "Former NBA star Marbury applying for Chinese green card", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Stephon_Marbury&oldid=1140836903, Career statistics and player information from, This page was last edited on 22 February 2023, at 00:57. We got close. I had a clichd idea that I was gonna be writing about victory about kids triumphing over their environment by dint of their talent and hard work. Facebook gives people the power to. But Freys trick was cooking that down to a universal core. Watch our How-To Videos to Become a Stathead, Subscribe to Stathead and get access to more data than you can imagine. For his teammates, that 700 becomes a dark and looming cloud. Stephon Marbury's worrying 24-hour livestream. ``Its a tremendous pressure on him.. [5][6] 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. [29] He was named the CBA Foreign MVP for the season. [46] Since then, but not due to business with Marbury, Steve & Barry's filed for bankruptcy and closed all stores. At the trial, Marbury testified that he and a Knicks intern had "got[ten] together" in his car outside a strip club in 2005. If he got talent, if he got a chance to make it, dont mess with him, Johnson says, explaining the neighborhood ethos. Norman was the consummate point guard: a penetrator and pinpoint passer. Do you have a blog? I thought, Do I hang out for a year at a single playground? The point guard recently opened up in a tell-all interview with the New Yorker. Free shipping for many products! [21] In July 2010, Marbury agreed to a three-year deal to remain with the Brave Dragons. To get to the next level. No one will write about Shipps attempts to move up within the Houston Independent School District. Two decades after Darcy Freys seminal work on New York City basketball, Lincoln High School, and four boys from Coney Island, we look back at the books legacy and enduring importance. Madison Square Garden when he died. The price for the Starbury One retailed for $14.98. [48] Mature beyond his years, he dreams of using basketball to pay for a degree in nursing. Coney Island present rises to the west between Surf and Mermaid avenues: 16 blocks of concrete and brick city housing, including the Marburys home in Surfside Gardens. Marbury, avoiding his brothers Achilles heel, departed Lincoln High School last year with good grades and a qualifying SAT score. Its down to Stephon now, as the heralded Georgia Tech freshman takes his familys best shot at basketballs brass ring. Darryle Flicking, a sweet-shooting guard, is the moody overachiever, obsessed with getting his grades high enough to earn a Division I college scholarship and sail out of Brooklyn forever.1Corey Johnson is the lackadaisical smartass, the game coming so naturally to him that he barely gives it a second thought. The game is called on account of total pandemonium: players and spectators are screaming and staggering around the court knees buckling, heads held in astonishment Stephon laughs and points to the rim, still shuddering from its run-in with Coreys fists. No matter the countless hours Frey spent in Coney Island with Corey and Darryle and Tchaka and Stephon, no matter the beautiful, painstaking tribute to their lives he created, no matter how illuminating The Last Shot is for readers whod never otherwise understand the culture, to Corey, it doesnt make up for what happened in the end. By now, one of the Marbury boys should have ascended from their city housing project into the big time and big bucks of the NBA. Don Sr. calls his third child, 63 Norman (Jou-Jou) Marbury, the purest point guard youd ever want to see, but Jou-Jou failed to make the grade on the SAT, had a scholarship offer from Tennessee withdrawn and got exiled to the junior colleges. You dont have to know the Gauchos or The Goat or Pee Wee Kirkland to understand that an impoverished community would cling fiercely to its reputation as a cradle for hoops talent. A neighborhood obsessed with basketball and dangerously little room to imagine much else. Robert Beck/SI. [High School] through your brothers. Literally, his arms was holding him up from falling off the roof. Stephon Marbury made at least $151,115,945 playing professional basketball. . Thanks my brother! Stephon Xavier Marbury (born February 20, 1977) is an American former professional basketball player and current head coach in the Chinese Basketball Association. But I didnt think at first that I would be writing some expos of the exploitation in basketball. We turn in to a courtyard and come across The Garden. NEW YORK -- Don Marbury, the father of Knicks point guard Georgia Tech alum Anderson, a pal of Norman Marbury, recruited Stephon for his alma mater. Stephon Marbury was born on February 20, 1977, in Coney Island, Brooklyn, New York. Although Frey had planned to follow the kids through graduation, his reporting was cut short when he lost access to the players. Throughout the book, Frey captures the beauty of freewheeling kids discovering the heights of their abilities. When she met Stephon, they were both in college and had hit it off quite instantly, so, it was no surprise that their steady dating life turned into a steady relationship, which then turned into a marriage. You can see Corey in action, wearing no. When Stephon was in diapers, brother Eric was dunking alongside Dominique Wilkins at the University of Georgia. Learn more and register. And, uh, its the same now. [51], In July 2009, Marbury began a live-streaming broadcast, a format not yet commonplace,[52] for 24 hours,[53] where he answered questions from fans, openly wept, and ate vaseline to soothe a sore throat. Eventually, he made his way to. the Phoenix Suns. Its nighttime, and as we trudge through the snow, past shuttered food shacks and the neon rainbow lights of the dormant Parachute Jump, we crunch our feet into the tracks laid down by a security guards ATV. [46] The reason for doing so, he stated at the time, was to provide kids a way to get fashionable basketball shoes for a reasonable price, and avoid the problem of having expensive shoes that are the target of theft. In the book, Don Marbury Sr. is a controversial figure: In exchange for access to his son, he requests compensation. ``Hes seen his brothers, all successful in different ways, all great ballplayers, but they didnt make it to the NBA, says Lou DAlmeida, a close family friend. And that kicks off with a virtuosic midgame scene that takes place at a favored Coney Island court named The Garden: Standing under his own basket, Stephon lets fly with a long, improbable pass that Corey, running full speed, somehow manages to catch and dunk in one balletic leap. Their father Patrick McDonald had worked as a shift manager at the 20,000-employee G.P. Note, this is done in an automated way, so we apologize for any errors, & please. Unfortunately, their father, Don, passed away on December 2, 2007, while Stephon was playing a game with the Knicks against the Pheonix Suns. Standing here now with Johnson, a tape recorder jutting from my shivering, ungloved hand, I know Im about to be guilty of the same sins. They let him into their homes. Brandon "Scoop B" Robinson It's hard not to crack a smile as . Tchaka Shipp, a 6-foot-8 big man, is the physically gifted galoot, oozing enthusiasm, unabashedly goofy, and just scratching the surface of his potential. 188, the junior high. He then attempts to set up a contract that would share profits from the book with the kids, but is ultimately blocked by NCAA regulations on amateur athletes. Following a season-ending ankle surgery in February 2008, which was reportedly deemed unnecessary by the team, but which Marbury elected to undergo regardless, Isiah Thomas hinted that Marbury could have played his final game in a Knicks uniform. It was the first time Id ever spent a year with people and then left their lives. Averaging 45 points per game during the Shanxi series, Marbury led Beijing to their first ever CBA Finals match-up against the 7-time champion Guangdong Southern Tigers. Take us to McDonalds, or else!, Corey saw Frey as an opportunity, but also as a fellow traveler another writer. [13] When D'Antoni told Marbury that he had an opportunity to play approximately 35 minutes in a game if he wanted to, Marbury, apparently feeling he and the Knicks had gone their own ways, allegedly refused. Stephon Marbury was born on February 20, 1977. [14] Following that, on December 1, Marbury was banned from attending any Knicks' practices or games. I just wanted to spend a year in a neighborhood with some kids.. One winter afternoon I take the Q train to meet Corey Johnson in Coney Island. Marbury, Penny Hardaway and Cezary Trybaski were traded to the New York Knicks on January 5, 2004, for Howard Eisley, Charlie Ward, Antonio McDyess, Maciej Lampe, draft rights to Milo Vujani, a first-round 2004 draft choice, and an additional future first-round draft choice. The mentality was so limited, Johnson says. And then there are the Marburys. Marbury walked away from playing in the CBA at the end of the 2017-18 season, having transformed himself into arguably the single greatest star the league had ever seen. NBA All-Star Stephon Marbury reigning big baskets and going toe-to-toe against one of the best to ever lace up.