Former NBA player Stephon Marbury reflects on 16 years in China, from his CBA career to family life and becoming a “new Beijinger”.
“China is my second home.”
Former NBA player Stephon Marbury said this in an interview with China News Service in Beijing on September 23th. He also used one word to describe China and his life there: “peace (安宁)”.
Marbury has spent the past 16 years in China. He joined the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) and led the Beijing Ducks to three CBA championships. Over the years, he also became a Chinese permanent resident and married a woman from Wuhan.
For Marbury, however, life in China has gone far beyond basketball.
“I married a Chinese woman. People can understand my love for China through my wife,” he said. China, he added, had helped reignite his life and shape the person he is today.
When Marbury first arrived in China, he was going through a difficult period. He had lost family members, his business was struggling, and his basketball career had hit a low point.
“But when I stepped off the plane, the Chinese people lifted me,” he said. “That love and energy were exactly what I needed.”
That experience also changed the way he viewed China.
Marbury believes that Chinese people have a deep understanding of others. “People are already trying to understand you before you even realise it,” he said.
For him, basketball provided a natural way to connect.
He was unfamiliar with Chinese basketball, food and language when he first arrived. On the court, however, the game itself needed little translation. Terms such as “defence” and “rebound” were familiar, as were the movements and skills.
“Basketball is a universal language,” Marbury said.
As he learned more about China and its culture, his experience changed as well. What began with basketball gradually grew into a much deeper connection with the country.
He now sees personal contact as an important way to understand another culture. People should experience a place for themselves, rather than form opinions based only on what others tell them, he said.
“You have to go somewhere yourself to talk about that place.”
Asked to describe China in one word, Marbury answered almost immediately: “Peace.”
“Living here is peaceful for me,” he said.
He has also found connections between Chinese culture and the values he learned from his parents. For him, one principle stands out: treat others as you would like to be treated. He describes it simply as “love and respect”.
Outside basketball, Marbury has embraced everyday life in China. He enjoys hotpot and sees food as an important part of Chinese culture. For first-time visitors to China, he recommends the Great Wall, where he says people can feel the weight of the history behind it.
“Living here, staying here, is all part of the culture,” he said.
With a smile, Marbury described himself as a “new Beijinger”. Now, he hopes to do more than live between two cultures.
“I want to be a connector,” he said. “I want to be someone who connects two cultures.”
If you liked this article, why not read: Former NBA star Marbury Unlocks a New Identity as a Chinese son-in-law
