Stephon Marbury is clearly thinking about his legacy.
As the 40-year-old guard comes to the end of his on-court basketball career — he’s going to play the next season in China, then hopes to catch on with an NBA team for the end of next season — he seems to be thinking about how people will remember him.
And he thinks he should be remembered with a plaque at the Hall of Fame, something he told Chris Chavez at Sports Illustrated.“My numbers are Hall of Fame. That’s it,” Marbury told SI Now.
“That’s what it comes down to and what you’ve done,” he added. “My mark on basketball globally is beyond – it’s never been done before. Something that’s never been done before obviously, you have to show homage to that.”
Stop laughing, it’s not that crazy. It’s probably not going to happen (predicting the HOF voters is like predicting roulette sometimes), but it’s not crazy.
Remember this is the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame and it is global, it’s not just an NBA Hall (there should be one of those, but that’s a different debate). Marbury’s NBA career — 19.3 points per game, two-time All-NBA, two-time All-Star — is not Hall worthy on its own. But he opened the door to China for many American players and became a basketball icon there, taking the Beijing Ducks to two Chinese Basketball Association titles, plus he has a statue in his honor and a musical about him and his impact on Chinese culture.
That all probably is not enough to get in the Hall, but it’s a lot closer than people think.
I just hope Marbury hooks on somewhere — the Big3 seems more likely than an NBA roster — because it would be fun to see him play one more time here in the States before he hangs up his shoes.
