In China, Marbury realizes most American of dreams: a clean slate - Bryan Armen Graham
While playing in China for the Beijing Ducks, former New York Knick Stephon Marbury is rebuilding his image.
When Stephon Marbury came to the Chinese Basketball Association in 2010, it appeared to be a last-chance money grab for an NBA castaway whose skills -- and options -- were in precipitous decline. Those suspicions seemed to be confirmed after the Brooklyn, N.Y., native exhausted his welcome with his first two CBA teams.
But since joining the Beijing Ducks last year, Marbury has completely transformed his image in China by availing himself to the public like no athlete before him. Even more improbably, he's inspired a perennially mediocre team into a title contender.
Led by Marbury, the Ducks have advanced to the CBA Finals for the first time in franchise history, where the four-time defending champion Guangdong Southern Tigers await. Game 1 of the best-of-seven series tips off Wednesday at Beijing's MasterCard Center.
Now Marbury -- Coney Island folk hero, McDonald's All-American, ACC Rookie of the Year, fourth overall pick in the 1996 NBA Draft, two-time NBA All-Star, member of Dream Team IV -- finds himself on the brink of his first championship in a mercurial pro career that's spanned 16 years, eight teams and two continents.
Seven thousand miles away from the O'Dwyer Gardens court that spawned him, Marbury has managed to realize the most American of dreams: a clean slate.
Marbury's relations with the American press remain as frayed as ever -- he turned down multiple requests to speak with SI.com unless he was guaranteed the cover of Sports Illustrated -- but he's never been more popular among the fans in China.
Ma Bu Li, as he's known in Chinese, eats at local restaurants. He rides the Beijing subway, taking the 1 line from the five-star hotel where he lives to the team's practice facility. He interacts around the clock with his nearly 250,000 followers on Weibo, China's state-monitored counterpart to Twitter, where he posts candid photos and personal messages of encouragement -- none more frequently than the tautological expression of compassion that's become his mantra: love is love.
"He's aligned himself closely to Beijing fans," says David Yang, a staff writer for Sports Illustrated China whose feature on Marbury was the cover story of the March 10 issue. "He's trying to project an image that's very friendly to Chinese people. And it's worked. People like it.
"No athletes have ever done this before, trying to get through to the Chinese fans. Stephon is the first in history I'd say. Not even Yao Ming. Not even Liu Xiang, the hurdler."
Marbury, who turned 35 last month, isn't the first wai yuan -- or foreign player -- to bring his talents to the Middle Kingdom, where the 17-team CBA has struggled for credibility since its 1995 inception. But previous American imports -- such as Bonzi Wells, Ricky Davis and Rafer Alston -- had always been regarded as highly compensated mercenaries only there for the short term. Not until Marbury did the Chinese fans allow themselves to become emotionally invested in a foreigner.
"In this country, especially with foreigners, if you show a desire and you show a real want to try to get to know this culture and interact with its people and just try to immerse yourself a little bit, people really like that," says Jon Pastuszek, a Chinese basketball insider based in Beijing and founder of NiuBBall.com. "He came here and he needed a second chance, but China's showed him some love back and he really appreciates that."
Marbury, whose public reinvention includes a regular newspaper column for the English-language China Daily, says he will retire in China. He wants to learn the language. ("I'm like a baby trying to learn," Marbury professed on Weibo. "One day I will speak Chinese. I promise that.") He's embedding himself in the city's culture. "I think it's also, of course, about [selling] shoes," Yang allows, alluding to Marbury's visions of establishing his Starbury brand of affordable sneakers in the world's fastest growing economy. "But things change."
Indeed, cynics allege Marbury is only on his best behavior because he hopes to build an apparel empire in China -- that to act out would be to undercut his investment. Yet the earnestness of Marbury, the impish grin, the persistent desire to endear himself to the culture, is magnetic.
"He is a down-to-earth person," says Randolph Morris, a Beijing forward whose 23.9 points per game ranked second on the team only to Marbury (26.2) during the regular season. "If I could describe him in one word it would be genuine. He means everything he says, there's nothing fake or phony about him."
Marbury's effort alone is enough for fans disillusioned by American imports whose arrogance dwarfed their work rate. But it's the Beijing team's improbable success that's helped Marbury raise the profile of a league that's always run a distant second domestically to the NBA.
Marbury averaged 45.0 points in Beijing's three victories during last week's tense CBA semifinal series with Shanxi, his former team.
Since the Ducks opened the season with a team-record 13 consecutive wins, the demand for tickets to Beijing games has soared, leaving many fans at the mercy of the secondary market. Playing off Morris, a former Kentucky star and fellow NBA veteran, Marbury shot 56.1 percent from the field and averaged 6.3 assists per game in leading Beijing to a 21-11 record during the regular season. He shouldered the extra load offensively when injuries struck key players Lee Hsueh-lin and Chen Lei. "He's just like a second coach really," Morris says. "He has so much insight. He does all the plays, all the scouting, all the strategy. He's brought our team a long way."
Beijing overcame a late-season funk to enter the eight-team playoffs as the No. 2 seed, where the Ducks made quick work of the Zhejiang Lions in the opening round. Marbury capped Beijing's quarterfinal sweep with a two-handed breakaway jam -- his first dunk in two-and-a-half CBA seasons -- that's since been replayed endlessly on Chinese television.
"He understands what he needs to do in order for them to be successful," says Jim Cleamons, a longtime NBA assistant who coached Zhejiang this year. "He doesn't worry about scoring, but he scores when he has to. He's at that stage of his career [where] he now embraces understanding how to play. He understands when he's going good, when he's not going good, when someone's hot I'm going to get them the ball. He's matured into a very good basketball player."
After Zhejiang came a contentious semifinal matchup with Shanxi, Marbury's former team. When Beijing dropped the best-of-five series opener, Marbury roared back with successive career-highs of 52 and 53 points to pull the Ducks within one win of their first CBA Finals appearance.
Game 4 on Shanxi's home court was by all reasonable accounts a farce. With Beijing leading 100-97 with 43 seconds left, Shanxi's Marcus Williams knifed into the lane and appeared to draw contact, but no foul was called. Cigarette lighters and water bottles rained on the court and the benches cleared, leading to a 10-minute interruption. When play resumed, the referees called a phantom foul on Morris (that gave Shanxi the tie) and a nickel-and-dimer on Beijing's Chen Lei (that gave Shanxi a two-point lead) and the Brave Dragons held on for a 102-100 win that leveled the series.
In the aftermath, a mob of around 300 hometown fans trapped the Beijing team bus in the parking lot for more than an hour and attacked it with stones and debris. A 21-year-old Shanxi supporter named Cao Lei accused Marbury of hitting him in the head with a bottle -- news that made for a juicy headline on Deadspin. ("I don't think Stephon would do something like that," says Yang of the allegations, which Marbury vehemently denies. "I just don't. It doesn't make sense to me.")
"After the game it carried over into the parking lot," Morris recalls. "The fans were surrounding our bus, throwing bricks at our bus. Even the bus driver was scared. He didn't want to move. He tried to get out of his seat and walked to the back of the bus."
The controversy only heightened the drama surrounding Sunday's winner-take-all showdown in Beijing, for which the CBA flew in three foreign referees and enacted a ban on lighters, water bottles and all throwable objects. With hundreds of police on hand -- and several busloads outside in full riot gear with helmets and shields -- the Ducks sprinted out to a 29-13 lead in the first quarter and never looked back, coasting to a 110-98 victory. Marbury finished with 30 points, eight assists and nine rebounds, and sobbed openly after the game, calling it "the best feeling I've ever had playing basketball."
"It was like an NBA atmosphere: very loud, very intense," says Dustin Lane, a reporter who covered the game for the China Daily. "Beijing sports fans in general feel like they haven't had a lot of success in any [sport]. People are getting into the idea they could actually have a championship here in town."
The cathartic tears after Beijing's victory have deeper meaning within the context of Marbury's 25-year odyssey through the basketball grinder.
At 11, Marbury was named the world's best sixth grader by Hoop Scoop. He inherited the No. 3 jersey worn by his brothers at Lincoln High at a time when the deification of high school ballers was coming into vogue. Near the end of his freshman year, Harper's Magazine ran a scathing profile that depicted Marbury as dangerously insolent and narcissistic. The mania surrounding Marbury's storied prep career was the inspiration for He Got Game, Spike Lee's 1998 film about a high-school basketball prodigy named Jesus.
Marbury played one season at Georgia Tech before jumping to the NBA, where he was drafted by the Minnesota Timberwolves. Within three years, he'd fallen out with Timberwolves management and demanded a trade. After landing with the New Jersey Nets in 1999, Marbury's individual game blossomed but the team never made the playoffs. After another fruitless three-year stint with the Phoenix Suns, Marbury was traded to the New York Knicks -- the team he'd rooted for as a child -- and instantly preordained the homegrown savior of a franchise that hadn't won a title since 1973.
The made-for-Hollywood redemption narrative went sour quickly. He became a case study in Gotham tabloid cannibalism: a series of public spats with Larry Brown led the New York Daily News to declare Marbury "the most reviled athlete in New York." He became the central figure in a sexual-harassment suit against team president Isiah Thomas that ruled the back pages for months. Marbury, a married father, testified that he had sex with an intern in the back of his truck after a group outing to a strip club in 2005. "Money makes you do crazy things, man," he'd say to no one in particular in a crowded elevator after his testimony.
After the Knicks barred him from the practice facility and bought out his contract in February 2009 -- essentially paying him $20 million to walk away -- Marbury's behavior only grew more erratic.
He began documenting his offseason life on Ustream and Justin.tv. Highlights of the 72-hour, Fellini-like webcast included Marbury eating a finger-full of Vaseline, prancing around in white face while listening to Michael Jackson and breaking down in tears while listening to Kirk Franklin's rendition of "Lean on Me." He spoke of being crucified. What he wanted more than anything, Marbury told an audience that peaked in the thousands, was "a billion dollars so he could start his own TV network like Oprah." Mashable called it the dark side of live streaming.
He'd made an estimated $150 million in NBA salary but had little apparent satisfaction to show for it. After a brief stint with the Boston Celtics, Marbury was convinced by two Chinese journalist friends to consider the CBA -- as a place to continue his playing career while re-establishing his Starbury brand that had stagnated since exclusive retailer Steve & Barry's went bankrupt in 2008.
Marbury joined Shanxi at midseason, averaging 22.9 points and 9.5 assists, but failed to guide the Brave Dragons into the playoffs. He joined the Foshan Dralions in December 2010. Again, Marbury posted eye-popping numbers and made the CBA All-Star team; again, his team fell short of the playoffs; again, he was unceremoniously released. Both Shanxi and Foshan had reached the same conundrum: He's got enough left in the tank to sell tickets, but is he good enough to lead a top-tier team to a championship?
He is. In Beijing, it's all happening.
One of the most decorated high school players in New York City history, Marbury developed a national following as a teenager.
David E. Klutho/SI
"He hooked up with some good Chinese teammates and he also hooked up with a pretty good import [in Randolph Morris]," Pastuszek says. "This is his first situation where he can get to the playoffs. He's been really motivated to win in Beijing in front of his fans. All those things came together and have propelled him to this run."
Marbury didn't choose China any more than Napoleon chose St. Helena. Thus begs the question: Is it China itself that Marbury loves? Or is it the mythical tabula rasa -- the opportunity for a new beginning?
"Given that Marbury was going through a tough time in his career, I think he probably liked the idea of having a fresh chance in a totally new country," Pastuszek says. "The opportunity to completely reinvent yourself doesn't come often, if ever, for a 30-plus-year-old professional basketball player.
"But it's evolved into much more than just that. He wants to participate in the day-to-day life of Beijing and of China in general. That's ultimately what his appeal is. Chinese fans love Marbury not just because he's good at basketball, but because he has a genuine interest in the culture."
One of Marbury's most frequent refrains throughout his transformative season in Beijing is his desire to remain in China after he retires and one day coach the Chinese national team. "That's not going to happen," says Yang, who spent 18 days interviewing Marbury and those close to him for the SI China cover story. His lack of coaching experience -- say nothing of his inability to speak Chinese -- makes it a dream no less quixotic than his visions of market supremacy in a country dominated by Nike and adidas.
Still, Yang wouldn't fully rule out the idea of Marbury becoming a permanent part of Chinese culture. "He's an interesting case," he says. "Let's just wait and see."
Tickets for Wednesday's Game 1 at the 18,000-seat MasterCard Center sold out in eight minutes on DaMai.com, according to Sina Sports. Guangdong, led by former Houston Rockets point guard Aaron Brooks, is a traditional league power making its eighth consecutive trip to the CBA Finals and the lopsided favorite.
That only raises the stakes for Marbury.
"He'd be one of the most famous foreigners in Beijing history if he were able to get them a championship," Pastuszek says. "Not only because it would be their first championship and all that, but they would have upset this heavily favored juggernaut in Guangdong. It would be an incredible story."
Whether his team wins or comes up short in this week's CBA Finals, Marbury knows he's in the right place -- and his serenity is victory enough.
"He's got a fresh start," Morris says. "Nobody's trying to blame him for anything. Nobody's trying to cause a media circus. It's just straight business and about basketball over here. Nothing more than basketball."
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马布里在中国实现美国梦
挤 地铁，吃当地小吃，和球迷网聊，史蒂芬.马布里重塑了自己的形象。
2010年斯蒂芬-马布里刚登陆CBA的 时候，看上去倒像是一位江郎才尽、无人问津的NBA过气球星来捞最后一笔钱。而当 马布里 在自己前两支CBA球 队耗尽人气的时候，这种怀疑仿佛被证实了。
但自从去年加盟北 京鸭队之后， 马布里让自己融入大众生活，就好像他不是个专业运动员一样，通过这，他彻底改变了自己在中国的形象。更不可思议的是，他把一支长久以来的二流球队催化成了 冠军争夺者。
在马布里的带领下，北京队建队以来首次挺进CBA总 决赛，而四连冠的广东队正在虎视眈眈地等着他们。7场4胜制的系列赛首战将在北京五棵松体育 馆打响。
马布里——这位曾经的康尼岛英雄，麦当劳全美高中全明星赛成员，ACC赛区的最佳新秀，96NBA选 秀的四号位，两届NBA全明星成员，梦四队的一员——发现，经历了16年8支球队横跨两大洲 的颠沛流离的职业生涯后，自己的首个职业冠军正在触手可及的地方。
远离自己的成名之地O'Dwyer公园球场七千英里， 老马实现了大多数美国人的梦想：洗清过往，重塑自我。
Marbury和美国媒体之间的关系依旧十分紧张——他回绝了SI.com的多次采访请求，除非 确保他能登上 《体育画报》的封面——但他在中国球迷中却是空前地受欢迎。
马 -布-里（Ma Bu Li）—— 这是他的中文名字——在当地餐馆就过餐。他也挤过北京的地铁，从他入住的五星级酒店搭乘一号线去球队的训练馆。 他在“微博”（中国政府监管下的山寨版推特）上和近25万粉丝互动，他分享自己的私人照片，发一些激励人心的话——不过没有什么比他那句令人感动的座右铭 出现更多了：love is love（爱就是爱）。注一
注一： 经常逛老马微 博的筒子应该知道，老马近乎每条微博都会以“love is love”结尾
“他让自己和北京球迷紧密地结合在一起，”大卫.杨说，《体育画报》中国版的特派记者，他给马布 里拍的特写成 为了三月十大热点的封面。注二 “他一直试图在中国人民心中建立一个友好的形象。并且这奏效了。大家非常喜欢这。”
“尝试与中国球迷打成一片，从没有运动员这样做过。我不得不说Stephon是第一个吃螃蟹的 人。哪怕是姚明和跨栏选手刘翔都没有这样做过。”
马 布里，上个月已满35岁，并不是第一个把自己的才华带入“中部王国”注三的“wai yuan ”——意思就是外援，在这个1995年成立的联赛里，有17支球队为荣誉而战斗。但之前的美国外援——邦奇.威尔斯，里基.戴维斯还有拉夫.阿尔斯通—— 却都只是被当成高薪请来的雇佣军，打不了多久就离开了。直到老马出现，中国球迷才第一次真正对一名外国球员投入情感。 注四
注三： 一种说法是， 外国人叫中国"the Middle Kindom",其中“Middle”是对中华人名共和国的“中华”的误解
注四： 译者补一句， 和原文无关。作者肯定不知道积臣....
“在这个国家，特别是对于外国人来说，如果表你现出一种对于了解这里的文化和与当地人民交流的渴 望，并且努力 让自己融入这里，那么人们就会很喜欢你，”Jon Pastuszek说，一位扎根于北京的中国篮球业 内人士，他也是NiuBBall.com的创始人。“他来到这里，他需要第二次机会，而中国人民显示了对他的喜爱，这让他非常感激。”
马 布里实现自我救赎与重塑的方法之一便是帮英文报纸《China Daily》写专栏，他在那里说他会在中国退役。（他还说）他想要学中文。（“我像个孩子一样牙牙学语，”马布里织过这样一条微博。“总有一天我会讲中文 的。我保证。”）他让自己融入这座城市的文化之中。“当然，我觉得他这也是为了[卖]球鞋，”杨直言不讳，揭露了老马想把自己经济型球鞋品牌 “Starbury”推广到这个世界上经济增长最快地区的“阴谋”。“但事情发生了变化。”
确实，曾有些犬儒作风注四的人断言马布里只不过是展现自己最好的一面，因为他想要在中国建立自己 的服装帝国 ——作秀能帮他有效地减少成本。但现在，老马对待比赛的兢兢业业，对待球迷的天真笑容以及对于让自己融入中国文化中的坚持与渴望，这些让他看起来异常迷 人。
注 五：这里作者用Cynics，犬儒主义的人~这里提供给大家一些资料与从某老师那里得来的看法，大家自己评判这里作者说得是什么样的人。早期犬儒主义以第 欧根尼为代表，基本特征是随遇而安的生活态度，反对一切有价值的观念与东西，对一切喜欢用戏剧式的冷嘲热讽（个人觉得本文可以用这一点）。后来犬儒主义发 展，形成上者犬儒：认为金钱能解决一切，享乐主义，从而演变为玩世不恭；下者犬儒：也认为金钱重要，但没钱，只能愤世嫉俗，一旦有了钱，就变成上者犬儒。 欢迎交流，不喜勿喷~
“他是一个实事求是的人，”兰多夫-莫里斯说，他是北京队的前锋，常规赛对内第二得分手，场均23.9 仅次于老马的26.2。"如果要用一个词来描述他那就是’实在（genuine）‘。他怎么想就怎么说，没有任何虚假和作秀的成分。"
单单是老马对比赛的努力程度就已经让那些受够因高傲自大而工作效率低下的美国外援的球迷很满足 了。帮助老马提 升一直被NBA甩 出几条街的CBA在 本土的地位，这也是北京队不可思议的成功。
上周和老东家山 西队火药味极浓的半决赛中，马布里在赢球的三场中场均45分。
自从北京队赛季开始一波队史最长的13连胜以来，北京队的比赛就变得一票难求了，这让很多球迷任由二级市场注六摆布。在于前肯塔基明星、NBA老 兵莫里斯的搭档与竞争下，老马常规赛命中率56.1%场均还贡献6.3次助攻领跑助攻榜，并带领北京队取得21胜11负的成绩。当学林和陈磊受伤时，他又扛起了更多的进攻任务。“他就像第二个主教练”莫里斯说。 “他的洞察力惊人。他打比赛，他探查对手，他制定战术。是他带领我们的球队走得更远。”
注六： 二级市场是指 黄牛吗？
北京队最终走出了赛季末期的低迷状态，以第二的身份挺进季 后赛，并在首轮兵不血刃地淘汰掉浙江队。马布里以一个快攻双手扣篮注七（他在两个半CBA赛 季中的第一个扣篮）将对手扫地出门，这个球之后在中国的电视台上反复播放。
“他知道为了球队的成功他需要做些什么，”Jim Cleamons说，一位NBA资 深助教，今年浙江队的主教练。“他并不在意得分，但当他不得不得分时他也会站出来。他的职业生涯正处于不惑的阶段，他享受比赛，也知道如何打好球。他知道 自己什么时候表现得好，什么时候表现得差，谁手热他就把球分配给谁。他成熟了很多，已经是一位非常出色的篮球手 了。”
跨过浙江之后是与山 西你争我夺的半决赛，马布里的老东家。当北 京输掉5局3胜制的系列赛第一场后，老马连续用职业生涯最高的52和53分疯狂反击，带领 北京队连下两城，离他们首个CBA决赛只有一胜之遥。
第四战在山 西主场的比赛堪称一场闹剧。比赛还有43秒，北京100比97领先，山 西队的马库斯.威廉姆斯直杀篮下，并且看起来制造了身体接触，但是哨声并没有响。之后，打火机和矿泉水瓶被扔向球场，坐在板凳上的球 员也不得不起身，这导致比赛中断了10分钟。比赛继续后，裁判莫名其妙地吹了莫里斯一个犯规（这让山 西队得以扳平比分），之后北京队陈磊的一个可吹可不吹的小动作注八又被吹了犯规（这让山 西领先两分），最终山西猛 龙将102-100的比分保持到了终场，扳平了总比分。
注八： 译者保证自己 是在绝对公平尊重原文的前提下译文的，这里莫里斯的那个犯规，作者的形容词是phantom，而陈磊的那个是nickel-and-dimer，通常指微不足道，大家自己 判断~解释下，免得引口水~
赛 后，接近300位过激的主场球迷注九在停车场围堵了北京队的大巴超过了一个小时，并用石头和碎片进行攻击。一位21岁的主队球迷曹雷指控马布里用水瓶攻击 他的头部——新闻来自Deadspin的juicy headline。（“我不认为马布里会做这样的事，”杨断言道，马布里也对这事坚决否认。“我就是没动手打人。那对我毫无意义。”）
注九： 原文用的是 mob这个词，译者用“过激”来形容，和谐和谐，勿喷~
“比赛中的不和谐被一直带到了停车场”莫里斯说。“球迷把我们的大巴包围了起来，还向我们的大巴 扔砖头。连司 机都被吓坏了。他不敢发动汽车。他试图离开自己的座位，躲到大巴的尾部去。”
这种纠纷倒是让周日在北京举行的成王败寇的系列赛决胜局更具看点，CBA安 排了三位外籍裁判执法，并对打火机、矿泉水瓶等一切能扔的东西明令禁止。在上百警力的维稳下——并且一些球场外的车辆还被带着头盔拿着盾牌的防暴警察严密 保护了起来——北京队以29-13领先结束第一节，之后就再也没有被反超过，最终以110-98获胜。马布里全场砍下30分8助9板，并且在赛后激动得放 声哭泣，说“这是他打篮 球以来最好的感觉。”
“当时赛场气氛足以和NBA媲 美：声音很大，比赛很激烈，”Dustin Lane说，他为《China Daily》跟踪报导这场比赛。“北京的体育迷总体给人的感觉就是，他们从未在任何体育比赛上感受到如此巨大的成功。人们的想法是，他们终于可以看到这座 城市拿一个冠军了。注十”
注十： 这位记者赤果 果地忽视国安是不对的，人家09年中超冠军，去年还是中超亚军呢...
打败山 西带领球队历史首次挺进CBA总决赛后，马布里放声大哭。
经历了25年奥德赛式的篮 球岁月，北京队胜利后那倾情的泪水对于老马来说意义重大。
11 岁的时候，马布里就被Hoop Scoop称为世界上最好的六年级生。之后他继承了自己哥哥曾在林肯高中的3号球衣，那时候正逢一股对于高中球员疯狂追捧的热潮。在他高一快结束的时候， Harper's Magazine严厉斥责了马布里的自高自大与目中无人。对于马布里进入职业联赛前那段传奇时光的狂热也为电影《单挑》注十一提供了灵感，这部斯派克.李 的大作讲述了一位为名耶稣的高中篮球天才的故事。
注十 一：大家应该都 知道，还是提一句，本片主演是雷-阿伦和丹泽尔-华盛顿
为佐治亚理工打了一年球后，马布里跳入NBA， 被明尼苏达森林狼队选中。三年之后他与球队管理层闹翻，并且要求交易。1999年登陆 新泽西网后，马布里个人数据迎来了大爆发，可是球队却连一次季 后赛都没进。又过了三年毫无斩获的菲尼 克斯岁月，马布里被交易到纽约——那支他儿时力挺的球队——这支自从1973年之后就无缘总冠军的球队命中注定般迎来了土生土长的救 世主。
这 个有关自我救赎的好莱坞式剧本很快就变味了。他成为了纽约各大媒体的攻击目标：一系列的与拉里-布朗的公开对喷让《纽约时报》称他为“纽约城最'毒瘤'的 运动员。” 他也曾站在球队主席以赛亚-托马斯性侵犯丑闻的风口浪尖上，这事儿统治了报刊几个月。马布里，一位已婚父亲，在05年公然承认他与一群人刷完脱衣舞夜总会 小副本之后，与一位实习生车震。
自从尼 克斯禁止他进入训练馆并在2009年2月买断他的合同之后——本质上就是付了两千万让他走人——马布里的行为更古怪了。
他 开始在 Ustream、Justin.tv还有Highlights of the 72-hour注十二上记录自己的休赛期生活，他在网络上广播的脑残事包括舔掉一手的凡士林，边听迈克尔-杰克逊边手舞足蹈，而听科克-弗兰克林翻唱的 《Lean on Me》时却会潸然泪下。他说他（的才华）被限制了。马布里告诉一个万里挑一的听众，他现在什么都不需要，只需要“十亿美刀，这样他就可以像欧普拉一样开展 自己的电视事业了。”Mashable注十三称他的这种行为正好揭示了“实时流媒体不利于社会的一面”。
注 十二：都是网络上进行个人线上音乐与视频广播的平台，可以进行实时聊天。
注十三：一个 著名的互联网 新闻博客，非常受关注。
他在NBA大约领了1.5亿美金的薪水但是他没有表现出一丝满足。在波士顿当了 几天绿衫军之后，马布里被他的两位中国新闻人朋友说服，开始考虑加盟CBA——在这个地方他可以继续自己职业生涯的同时重建自己的 Starbury品牌，这牌子自从代理商Steve & Barry注十三在2008年倒闭后就停产了。
注十 四：美国一家推 崇廉价时装的连锁服装店，也写为S&B
在赛季中期，马布里加盟山 西，场均22.9分并送出9.5个助攻，但没能带领猛 龙队打入季后赛；之后他又在2010年12月加盟佛 山龙狮队。再一次，马布里交出了抢眼的数据并且被选入全明星；但他的球队依然未能进军季 后赛；他又一次被无情地裁掉了。山 西和佛山都得出了同样的结论：他能帮助球队提高票房，他也足够优秀，能帮一支顶 级球队夺冠。
之后，他就到了北京。一切就这样发生了。
“他和一些出色的中国队友建立了良好的默契，也与另外一位不错的外援莫里斯挺撘，” Pastuszek说。 “这是他第一次有机会涉足季后赛。在北京，在他的球迷面前，他表现出了对胜利的渴望。这些事凑在一起 推动了老马的这次冲冠之旅。”
作为纽约史上最华丽的高中 球员之一，马 布里青少年时期就在全美拥有众多粉丝。
马布里选择中国时的境遇并不比拿破仑选择圣赫勒拿岛注十五时好多少。因此请想想这些问题：马布里真的爱中国这片土地吗？或者老马这真的神奇地洗心革面—— 重新做人了吗？
注十 五：拿破仑第二 次被反法联盟流放到远离家乡的那大西洋的圣赫勒拿岛，连卷土重来的机会都没有了~这里译者目测作者是想说马布里当时是走投无路了，所以怀疑他现在的行为是 否真心真意。
“马布里当时正处于职业生涯的低谷，我认为他应该是想在一个全新的国家重新来过，” Pastuszek说。 “能让你彻底改头换面的机会并不多，对于一个年逾30的职业篮球运动员更是如此。”
“但是这事儿远非那么简单。总体来说，他是非常希望融入北京甚至中国的日常生活中的。这才是真正 吸引他的东 西。中国球迷喜爱马布里不只是因为他球技出色，而更是由于他对于本土文化的喜爱是真心的。”
贯 穿在北京的这整个转型的赛季，马布里最需要克制的欲望之一就是在中国退役并且成为中国男篮的主教练。“这不可能发生，”杨说，他花了18天采访马布里，为 《体育画报》中国版的封面故事搜集素材。他缺乏当教练的经验——还不论他不会讲中文——这让这个梦想一点不比他想在一个由阿迪和耐克统治的国家支配服装市 场的想法现实多少。”
同时，杨并不完全排除马布里永久融入中国文化的可能。“他是一个有趣的案例，”他说。“让我们拭 目以待。”
周三总决赛第一场将在能容纳18000人的五棵松体育馆打响，而根据新浪体育的报导，在大麦网 上，门票八分钟 之内被一抢而光。由前火箭队员阿隆.布鲁克斯领衔的广 东队，是这个联赛的传统强队，已经连续八年打入总决赛，近乎垄断了所有人气。
这只会让马布里的含金量看起来更高。
“如果他能帮助北京夺冠，他将成为北京历史上最有名的老外之一，” Pastuszek说。“不仅是因为这是北京队的首冠，他们还能剧烈撼动广 东的霸主地位与强大人气。这将是一个不可思议的故事。”
不管本周的CBA总决赛中他的球队是赢球还是落败，马布里都知道他在正确的道路上—— 他的沉稳就是胜利最大的保障。
“他获得了一个全新的开始，”莫里斯说。“没有人会责备他。也没人想要引起媒体注意。一切只和篮球有 关。没有什么比篮 球更吸引人了。”
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