Stephon Marbury reportedly duked it out with his coach on a team flight and later blackmailed that same coach after he had been removed from the starting lineup.
He chose to undergo a season-ending surgery that his team had determined to be unnecessary.
His feuding with another coach, one of the most respected in history, has been cited as one of the reasons for the coach's firing—I'm talking about Larry Brown, not Isaiah Thomas, in case you were wondering—just one season into a five-year deal worth more than $50 million.
He has also fired both of the agents he's had, and now rolls alone in that department.
And when his team had only eight players available for a recent game, he refused to play despite his $21.9 million salary.
Yet he has somehow managed to make
The Sporting News' list of "Good Guys in Sports" three times.Allow me to introduce Stephon Marbury—enigma, head case, philanthropist.
Sure, he has made himself so unwanted that his team would rather eat his mammoth contract than let him play. But believe it or not, off the court he is quite the humanitarian.
In his effort to "change the world," he teamed with Steve & Barry's store to provide affordable but high quality sneakers and clothing. His Starbury basketball sneakers sell for just $14.98 and all items in the Starbury collection sell for the same amount or less.
He hosts an expenses paid four-day camp for underprivileged students which concludes at his house in Maryland.
His Starbury Stars program provides free tickets to every Knicks home game to local youth groups.
He has been spotted dishing out Thanksgiving meals to the needy while his Team Marbury Charitable Foundation also donated 2,000 turkey dinners.
He hosted a Starbury Fantasy Weekend that included youth educational clinics and a fundraiser for which he won an NBA Hometown Hero award.
So in a word, how does one best describe Stephon Marbury? "Dichotomous" certainly comes to mind.
Is his a case of basketball genius and madness? I don't know. But to be honest, I, for one, am willing to accept his basketball-related borderline psychosis in exchange for his off the court generosity.
I wouldn't want him on my team, but I'm glad he's around. You know what I mean?
11 comments Last one added 7 months ago — Leave a Comment
Travis Miller 7 months ago
If you ever get a chance, I highly recommend reading the book "The Last Shot" by Darcy Frey. It's not exactly about Marbury, but he's in the book, I think in 8th or 9th grade at the time.
It gives you a great look at not only the Marbury family, which was a Psychologist's dream before Stephon's father passed away, but it's a look at entire Coney Island scene that Marbury grew up in. You get a much better understanding for his attitude (due to family life), and his generous deeds (due to his environment growing up).
It's mainly a series of tragic stories about the players on the Lincoln team preceding Marbury, and how Proposition 48 can ruin skilled basketball players' only chances of getting out of a terrible situation. It's very controversial, but such a great read.
Great article.
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Alan Thomson 7 months ago
Thanks Travis. I remember hearing about that book when it came out and wanting to read it but I had completely forgotten about it. Thanks for mentioning it. I just scoped it out on Amazon and it's on my list.
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Jay Marcelle 7 months ago
ok, this is why you have to start thinking for yourself and NOT buying into the media. i wrote my 1 and only article about that. 1st off,isiah benched marbury because he claimed he didn't play defense. WOW what a shock. thats the same guy he liked so much. everyone knows that whole falling out was because of isiah thomas and ABS. he cost the knicks 11 million. and marbury claimed he was given permission to leave, and i think he ended up getting his money back. 2nd even if he could've played with bone spurs, eventually he would've needed surgery. added to the drama from the lawsuit, the death of his father most likely took away his desire to play. but you guys call him a quitter when he started every game of his career before that. some quitter. you guys say you want him gone, and when he ''QUITS'', you get mad and say its his fault. the truth is you DONT now what you want. you guys just wanna bash an unpopular player wh makes more money than MJ ever did. blame isiah for trading for that 5 year 75 million ext. marbury didn't beef with lenny wilkens or herb williams, or even isiah thomas till the lawsuit which was his fault. and as for larry brown? the dude criticized his players more than anyone i've ever seen. he said trevor ariza didn't belong in the nba. he said david lee was a bench player, and said things about nate robinson that i cant say in front of my mother. HE DID THAT WITH EVERYONE. THATS WHAT HE DOES!!! EVEN HE said when he left that he felt sorry for marbury because the knicks used him to get rid of brown. so what did marbury do here that was wrong besides make a lot of money and have a personality that pushes people away? the dude was a saint compared to how he was before. i never heard marbury bash his teammates before. he is too passive for that. when he MADE curry an all sdtar caliber player by forcing him the ball and lowering his averages as proof, you guys STILL said he was a chuck. LMAO. you people are funny. and you try and make it seem like he is so selfish with his money. the dude is one of the most charitable people in the friggin NBA. so much for him being selfish. did marbury throw water in nates face or try and fight isiah thomas on national tv? NO, all he did was put a towel over his head and say he was better than jason kidd. THATS IT!!! i hate articles like this. such bias is extremely unprofessional. he might say dumb things in the media, but that effects no one but him. he might not be allan houston, but even Q chuckled and said marbury wasn't a bad teammate yesterday AFTER he done bashed him already. people mention marbury for stuff that happened a decade ago literally. if he didn't make a lot of money, you guys wouldn't be saying done of this. you wanna talk about the money he makes? blame Jerry Colangelo for giving it to him. if yu sit there and read this WHOLE THING. you might learn something
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Jay Marcelle 7 months ago
dang that was long, but sit around, you might learn a thing or 2
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Alan Thomson 7 months ago
Wow Jay, a bit of a Marbury fan are you? I welcome all comments but I can't say that I agree with your assessment. You get into a lot of things in your comment that I never even mentioned in the article.
Everything I've written came from reliable media sources in countless places. Google any of it and see for yourself. So if I'm "biased and unprofessional", I guess all of the media is the same way. But since I don't know Stephon personally, the media is all that any of us have to go on.
"You try to make it seem like he is so selfish with his money"??? The whole second half of the article is about his charitable work.
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Jay Marcelle 7 months ago
no, i dont think you are biased and unpofessional. i jjust think this artticle was. i read it. the whole thing. my point it this, when you take facts from the media, i think its better to put the info together and come to a conclusion yourself. i go on the ny daily news websiter daily, and frank isola can sometimes sound smart, and sometimes come off as a complete idiot who constantly contradicts himself. and he has more ties to the knicks than you and i. so i dont think its just about that. but all in all, what has marbury actually done wrong besides make a lot of money and say dumb things? that whole quiting thing was alleged, and if it wasn't that could be the only thing i can actually bash him for. after his pops died and he lost his will, i understand why he didn't wanna play. but the media makes it seem like quitting.if being a iidiot is a reason to exile someone, dolan should be banished. as for you and making him look self, i'll quote what you wrote.
'' when his team had only eight players available for a recent game, he refused to play despite his $21.9 million salary.
Yet he has somehow managed to make The Sporting News' list of "Good Guys in Sports" three times.''
what was so hard to understand about that? what does him being a ''career loser'' and childish athlete have anything to do with what he does off the court? and trust me, everything i mentioned, ties into your article. and i say that without needing to even reread those comments, as im sure youdont want to either
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Jay Marcelle 7 months ago
and in no way does marbury get a pass. the dude has serious character issues and could really need to seek counsel. i think its his families fault. they raised him with such high expectations and told him he would be the best and make it to the nba. it seems they didn't teach him how to be humble.
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Alan Thomson 7 months ago
You wrote: "what does him being a ''career loser'' and childish athlete have anything to do with what he does off the court?"
That's actually the whole point of my article. They don't have anything to do with each other.
I'm not saying that he doesn't deserve to be named to the Good Guys in Sports List. He definitely does. I'm pointing out all of the things he's been criticized for and then talking about all the good that he's done.
I'm pointing out how unique he is. Usually when you read about athletes being childish or selfish you don't see them doing the things that Marbury does off the court. It's amazing to most people that someone can seem so selfish and yet be so giving. It makes them think.
I'm not even trying to get into the reasons why he may have done those seemingly selfish things. No one is always the bad guy all of the time. If I was him and they wanted me to play after they embarrassed me by sitting me on the bench and then only wanted me when they had no choice, I don't know how I would have reacted. And with all of the BS going on with the Knicks, starting with the Dolans, who knows what really went on.
And I'm not getting into the reasons why he does charitable work either. I'm just taking the bad and the good at face value and weighing them out against each other.
I conclude the article by saying that yeah, he may be a difficult or controversial person in his basketball life but he's got a heart of gold. The good that he does outweighs the bad. I said that "I'm glad he's around." That's the conclusion I've come to based on what I know.
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Alan Thomson 7 months ago
I actually think we're on the same page with this.
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J. Rudolph 7 months ago
New York was that guys wouldn’t play for him, so James Dolan made the decision to end the relationship. Marbury is a lot of things, but a player with the ability to get a coach fired isn’t one of them. Now I know this because, like you, I’m also a writer with many sources. I understand you have an opinion, and I respect that, but I ask that you’re clear in what you write before you write it. There are people that choose to defend Marbury because the feeling is that half a story, the bad half, is told about him. There is also a feeling that people write about him don’t know much, other than what they’ve heard, about him. I’m sure you can understand that, I think you’d agree, maybe not, that criticism without knowledge of the subject that is being criticized is vilification. We can discuss this further, email me anytime …. Jarrod.Rudolph@Realgm.com
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Alan Thomson 7 months ago
Ok J, I'm going to concede the point to you on Marbury getting Larry Brown fired. But it was widely reported that the disputes between the two played a part in it.
When people write about Marbury, or anyone else, the only thing they have to go on is what they've heard. Maybe you're more connected than most people and hear more of the other side; things that don't reach the mainstream media.
Without knowing Stephon personally, my only knowledge of the subject comes from what I read in the press, just like virtually every other person. So if "knowledge of the subject" is defined by knowing someone personally or being connected to an inner circle who knows him, then I guess I'm guilty of only telling "half a story, the bad half" like everyone else who writes about him.
My attempt with this story WAS to tell both sides about him. It looks at things he has done, or reportedly has done, at face value. I could speculate about his motives but that's not the point of the article.
He is a guy who has been involved in more than his share of controversial behavior in his basketball life. That's a fact. And he is also a guy who has done a whole lot of good off the court. That is also a fact.
I'm saying that despite all of the reports of his bad behavior, I'm glad he's around.
I do appreciate your comment though, and your civility in voicing your disagreement.
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