Stephon Marbury Promises to Return, Just Not This Year

In an interview with the New York Post, Stephon Marbury admitted that he has no plans to pursue an NBA job this season but vowed to return in the future. "I'm resting, doing what Michael Jordan did, enjoy life, do things I haven't done in 16 years, keep building my empire," Marbury told the Post. "I wasn't going to Boston for that money. It was a prudent business decision to take off this year."

It was a prudent business to take a year off, but let's be honest -- it wasn't a decision Marbury made, but rather one forced upon him by 30 NBA general managers.

During a peculiar offseason in which productive players without excess baggage struggled to find contracts, the odds of Marbury finding work were extremely slim, especially after his mis-adventures in social media that included, among dozens of wacky examples, eating Vaseline and getting into a car accident while streaming live on the internet.

Will he find more teams willing to roll the dice a year from now? It doesn't seem likely. Assuming he doesn't play this year, Marbury will have combined for 47 regular-season games in three years, having last played a complete season in 2006-07. He's not necessarily too old to make a comeback, but he's not getting any younger, and turns 33 years old this coming February.

And even if a team decides he still has the skills to compete, it also needs to weigh his on-court production to his potential to disrupt the locker room. (By all accounts Marbury was on his best behavior while with the Celtics, but his recent Twitter rants against Paul Pierce make you wonder if there weren't problems behind the scenes.)

That said, Marbury has a message for those who doubt him. "People can say what they want and act like God," Marbury said. "A year from now, you don't know what I'm going to be like. I got to 197 pounds last camp. I'm from the gutter. I can go anywhere."

For more on Marbury (and his disparaging comments about the Knicks and why he feels New York has no shot at LeBron James), check out the Post article.

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

10-16-2009 @ 1:11PM

acsales said...

He simply is a cancer to any team he plays on. Had talent but simply the wrong attitude

10-16-2009 @ 2:09PM

samtull said...

Marbury is correct. He was ready to lead the Knicks last season.
Then the coach who committed a "bitch move" by not playing him when he was their best point guard.
He is also correct about Nate. Nate is a nut and ball hog who shoots the rock everytime he gets it and mostly outta control.
I took a peek at them the other night and Nate is still bitching like always, Does he ever grow up.
He should have been traded. He will never be a pass first guard because he all about getting his point.
Gallanari skills is also below average. I recall the coach stating he has the best jump shot he has ever seen. Then he must have been coaching scrubs. I seen boys in the playground with a better game them his.
Coach-Stop trying to supp him up like he is going to be a star in this league. He will never be a star in NBA. Once the season starts everyone that he guards in this league will expose to his weak game. This is
nepotism at its best. The only reason they drafted him because the coach know his father. I can see if he had game but he does not.
As A lifelong Knicks fan and Native NY'ER. I will not pay to see any of there games ever again until the coach and general manager is fired.
Once again they will not make the playoffs when so many other teams that was belowed them got better.

10-16-2009 @ 2:35PM

Max_In_Missouri said...

Marbury had his chance to lead the team....time and time again. He didn't do it and proved that he cannot be a contributor on a good team.

D'Antoni is overrated, but there is no way he gets fired....

10-21-2009 @ 4:55PM

nabpdcop said...

I agree with you. I stopped being a knick fan when Walt Frazier was gone...smile Showing my age......lolololol. I now love the LAKERS, and have been for the last 20 years. Upper management needs to go, as in FIRED.

10-16-2009 @ 3:08PM

scooperman28 said...

MARBURY IS A LOW-LIFE. BASKETBALL GAVE HIM A CHANCE TO CHANGE THAT HE DIDN'T PERIOD.

10-16-2009 @ 3:24PM

Dan said...

As usual Marbury is completely whacked out. Of all the crazy stuff he has said and done in the last 3 years. this is the craziest.

His skills were never all that to begin with, just your typical ball hog that sacrificed team to try to make him seem better with inflated stats.

the chances of him coming back IF he ends up sitting out another year or NONE.

what is more likely is someone will get hurt this year or some stupid team will need a backup and they will call this loser. other than that forget about it. no winning team would want anything to do with him.

10-16-2009 @ 9:54PM

Shaunn Lloyd said...

I am a marbury fan, but it's sad to say his nba career is over. I just hope he invested his money right and didn't blow it.

10-17-2009 @ 1:00AM

Mr.G said...

He's "from the gutter" alright.Now it's back down the sewer pipe with him.Here's hoping somebody swindles all the money from him,that he swindled from every team unfortunate enough to believe in him.There's NO team in the NBA that would even allow this garbage on the property.

10-17-2009 @ 1:24PM

Tony said...

I used to be a huge fan of Marbury's but watching him implode on Minnesota, Phoenix, New Jersey, New York, and not do anything in Boston, how many chances does he get to prove he can run a team? The only reason Iverson made it longer is that he could light you up for 50 points any given night. Marbury needs to take his "empire" as he calls it and make a living doing that. The demands of the NBA are simply something he is not suited for. Check out my blog, "Everyday NBA", http://everydaynba.blogspot.com/

10-19-2009 @ 8:19AM

ansi01 said...

I will not harshly berate Marbury like others; he doesn't deserve that type of attack on his character. But I will say this: when Marbury was in Minnesota, they had Garnett and Gugliotta. That was the nucleas of what could have been a dynamic young team. Marbury bolted from that situation for the "bright lights" of New Jersey. That move hurt his credibility as a team player. Prior to that he left Georgia Tech after only one year. Marbury does hunger for the spotlight. He is not one of my favorite palyers. But to say he comes from the gutter is ugly and unfair. His sneaker business and other business ventures are noteworthy. I wish him well in his post NBA life.

10-20-2009 @ 5:50AM

kab918 said...

I am a Knick fan. I am not a fan of neither D'Antoni or Marbury. Marbury is impossible to root for. This is the same jerk who dissed Charlie Ward, saying that the Knicks would never win a championship with Ward. Ward has way less talent than Marbury but was way more of a winner. Before Marbury got to Boston, who just won the title at the time, he never got out of the first round of the playoffs. Every team that traded away Marbury got better. Every team that traded for him got worse. D'Antoni mishandled Marbury by isolating him. If he was smart, he would have played him to try to build some trade value. Instead, the Knicks did not trade him and lost him to a buyout. Marbury was right, although he said it out of sour grapes, about D'Antoni not emphasizing defense. But Marbury does not play defense, either. The Knicks were playing their best ball under the Isiah-Stephon era until Isiah Thomas traded away Keith Van Horn (because Marbury and Van Horn did not get along) in a multi team trade and wound up with dog Tim Thomas and Nazr Mohammed. They've declined ever since. Kurt Thomas, Quentin Richardson, and many others (who took a number and wait in line) wanted to beat the hell out of him. Marbury seems to be a miserable person that his peers do not want to be around. This was the same man who ex-teammate Tom Gugliotta said was jealous of Kevin Garnett. Marbury is "shutting it down" because no one wants him, despite his solid career numbers.