Stephon Marbury recently retired from playing professional basketball, ending a run that spanned 22 years both in the NBA and overseas. Now, Marbury is looking to begin his coaching career by signing on as the head coach of his former team, the Beijing Royal Fighters, aka the Beijing Fly Dragons.
Marbury, who spent six seasons with the Beijing Ducks, played for the Fly Dragons this past season, but announced his retirement ahead of the regular-season finale.
Over the course of his 13-year NBA career, which includes time spent in Minnesota, New Jersey, Phoenix, New York and Boston, Marbury averaged 19.3 points, 7.6 assists and 3.0 rebounds per game. In China, Marbury won three CBA championships with the Ducks and was the 2015 CBA Finals MVP, which led the franchise to erect a Marbury statue outside of their arena.
Considering all of his accomplishments, the former 4th overall pick in the 1996 draft believes he's worthy of the Basketball Hall of Fame. Last February, he pitched his case to The Undefeated.
"My numbers are Hall of Fame. That's first," Marbury said. "You look at guys who have never won championships on the globe, they are in the Hall of Fame. Two, what I have done to help basketball globally to bridge the gap from America to China, with China being one of the main components on the Earth for basketball, that right there alone should bridge that gap.
"It's the Basketball Hall of Fame, not the NBA Hall of Fame. So, for basketball, I played in Olympics, I played in the Junior Olympics. With what I've done and given to basketball is all Hall of Fame."
