BEIJING: Former NBA bad boy Stephon Marbury has agreed to stay three more years with a Chinese basketball team, under a contract that includes a marketing deal for his line of athletic shoes, the team has said.
Marbury, 33, will play for the Shanxi Brave Dragons for two more years, and will either be a player or an assistant coach in the third year of his contract, the team announced in a statement on its website.
The statement said Marbury would make the same salary he earned last season, without giving a figure, but would be compensated for that "modest" sum with the creation of a company to sell his "Starbury" line of apparel and shoes.
The parties are to sign the contract before the Chinese Basketball Association’s 2010-2011 season begins later this year, the statement said.
Three stores selling "Starbury" products will be opened in the city of Taiyuan, where the team plays, following the start of the new season.
"Shanxi is my top priority," Marbury was quoted as saying.
The ex-New York Knicks point guard averaged 22.8 points and 9.5 assists in 15 regular-season games with Shanxi and ended the season as the most valuable player at the CBA’s All-Star Game.
Marbury — the first player to appear in both an NBA and a CBA All-Star game — is by far the biggest foreign star ever to play in China, and one of several US players breathing new life into the league.
The Shanxi team enjoyed record crowds at home, most cheering for Marbury, who is known by the three Chinese characters "Ma Bu Li" — a reception that marked quite a turnaround from his controversial 13-year NBA career.
After being benched by former Knicks coach Isiah Thomas during the 2007-2008 season, Marbury refused to play in what became an ugly spat that drew national headlines and alienated fans.
The rancour dragged into the following season until the Knicks bought out the final year of a reported $42-million contract in early 2009. He last played stateside for the Boston Celtics.
