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Stephon Marbury
For Stephon Marbury, playing basketball wassn't just a game, it was his ticket to getting out of the projects.Stephon has made his mark in Brooklyn's Coney Island. In a neighborhood of legendary street ballers, he's the first to make-and star in-the NBA. Little has changed since Stephon last visited, jobs are scarce, drugs and gangs vacate the area. Stephon's older brother Eric, 39, had striven to make it to the NBA and lift the Marburys out of poverty, when he didn't make it, the passion to suceed was handed down to his next brother Donnie, and then, Norman. By the time it was Stephon's turn, the urgency to lift the Marburys out of povert was intense. In 1996, Marbury made the NBA, Headlines, and Millions. He moved his parents far from Coney Island to a leafy Maryland suberb. Starbury now lives in Atlanta, home of his alma mater, Georgia Tech. Yet the further he gets from his old Brooklyn neighborhood, the more it seems to draw the 6'2 180 lb. point guard back. "It was my whole dream to take my mother out of the projects" says Steph, "but it's almost as important for me to stay." "I'm never gonna get to big to step into my building, I'm always gonna come back. Helps me keep it real, no doubt." Now you say, Why would anyone wanna go back to poverty when he has it all now? Well, to the kids of Coney Island, he's a god, one of Coney Island's rare sucess stories. There he hosts the Stephon Marbury Classic, a youth basketball tournament for ages 8-19. After just one season at Georgia Tech, Marbury turned pro, at Georgia Tech he became only the fifth freshman ever to make all ACC First-Team. His first season in Minnesota, he led the Timberwolves to their first ever post season appearance. Marbury was picked fourth in the 1996 NBA Draft by the Milwaukee Bucks, who quickly traded him to the Minnesota Timberwolves for the No. 5 overall pick, Ray Allen. He was named to the NBA All-Rookie First Team and finished second in Rookie of the Year voting behind Allen Iverson, a player who I think Starbury could take one-on-one anyday. Last year, he averaged 17.7 points a game and 8.6 assists, fourth best in the league. And now with the Lockout over, this season Steph's totals should just raise even more. Stephon Marbury is truly the point guard of the future.For pictures of Starbury, click here |
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