Stephon Marbury Talks About Prior Depression and Suicidal Thoughts
Stephon Marbury has found success as a novel basketball star in China, experiencing a career revival as his playing days draw closer to an end.
It's a far better place than Marbury was in not long ago, when depression and suicidal thoughts tormented him as his time in the NBA was expiring.
Marbury discussed his trying times in an HBO Real Sports segment that will air January 20 at 10 p.m. ET, per SI.com's Ben Golliver:
"When everything went on with the Knicks, and, you know, my father passed on, the [Starbury] brand was-- it was basically losing life slowly. And I was watching it. And I think that was hurting me more than seeing my basketball career going in the direction that it was going...I was trapped in my thoughts. I was trapped in how I felt about how I felt I was treated. I was trapped with decisions that I made.
[...]
I wanted to die...I wanted to kill myself some days. I did...It wasn't about basketball. It started to become about me. Because I was that depressed and I was that sick.
"
Marbury also states in the Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel interview that he's felt the love from fans since joining the Chinese Basketball Association and that the "hate" from stateside fans doesn't make him want to return to the U.S.
A live video of Marbury consuming Vaseline while crying surfaced in 2009, raising concerns and diverse speculation. Only now has the 37-year-old revealed the internal turmoil he was enduring at that time, as he admitted to "definitely" being suicidal and clinically depressed.
The New York Knicks expected a lot from Marbury upon his arrival in a January 2004 trade, and he thrived in the Big Apple at the start.
During his first full season with the Knicks in 2004-05, Marbury averaged 21.7 points, 8.1 assists and 1.5 steals per contest. However, his performance declined thereafter, and clashes with coaches—first Larry Brown and then Isiah Thomas—marred Marbury's stint with his hometown team, which effectively stymied his NBA career.
