Even with the knowledge that Stephon Marbury has turned his professional and personal life around in the years since, the clips of him crying and shouting and eventually eating Vaseline on a live internet video stream are as hard to watch now as they were back in 2009. Marbury, who had essentially been punted out of the NBA at the relatively young age of 31 after playing just 47 games in the two seasons prior, was creating a low point for us all to watch for free in the comfort of our own homes; spending the bulk of the summer of 2009 broadcasting a life that was spiraling out of control. In the nascent days of Twitter, some people did get their jokes in as Marbury melted down, but to many it came off as more frightening than entertaining.
Five and a half years later, Marbury is a celebrated international basketball star, after having turned his life around in the Chinese Basketball Association. In an interview with HBO’s Real Sports, however, Marbury revealed that he actually contemplated suicide while working through the deep depression that we were privy to see via Ustream.com:For those that can’t make it through the video, from the New York Daily News:
Marbury tells Real Sports' Bryant Gumbel that there were times during that period when he "wanted to die. I wanted to kill myself some days. I did. … It wasn't about basketball. It started to become about me. Because I was that depressed and I was that sick."
He says as his shoe company began to fail, he saw himself "basically losing life slowly. And I was watching it. And I think that was hurting me more than seeing my basketball career going in the direction that it was going. I was trapped in my thoughts. I was trapped in how I felt about how I felt I was being treated. I was trapped with decisions that I made."
The Knicks traded for Marbury midway through the 2003-04, reuniting him with his New York home and pairing him with former championship point guard Isiah Thomas, who had been hired to run the team. Praised for the deal by some (not all) at the time, the move surrendered several assets and draft picks in exchange for a player in Marbury who would fail in his attempts to win a single playoff game with New York.
By 2005-06, Marbury was a bit of a punch line, clashing with coach Larry Brown. Brown’s departure after one wild year and Thomas’ ascension to the head coaching throne didn’t seem to help. Isiah was dumped prior to 2008-09, and Marbury never played a minute under new coach Mike D’Antoni, who had been the head coach in Phoenix when Stephon was dealt to New York. Marbury briefly latched on with the defending champion Boston Celtics late in the season, but those scant minutes were to be his last NBA games.
No NBA teams came calling for Marbury’s services that summer, as he was seen as a malcontent whose withering production (he shot just 34 percent in Boston) wasn’t enough to take a risk on even at a minimum contract’s rate. As the summer droned on, Marbury embraced streaming live online video, alternating bouts of goofing off with his pals and/or kids with other, more deeply disturbing bits.
Stephon has rebounded. He’s won two titles in China, the country’s rabid basketball fans have embraced him, and a musical celebrating his legacy was even cobbled together. He may not be a household name stateside any more, but he’s clearly happy playing in the CBA, even vowing in the HBO interview that he’s “going to be here forever” because he “love[s] it here.”
What a fantastic turnaround. The interview airs Tuesday on HBO.
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