Former NBA All-Star Stephon Marbury will continue his basketball career in China for one more season, playing for the same city that helped resurrect his career -- only this time in a different jersey.
After failing to reach an agreement this summer with the Beijing Ducks, where Marbury won three Chinese Basketball Association championships in four years, the 40-year-old guard posted on Instagram on Wednesday that he will join the Beikong Fly Dragons, the other Beijing-based CBA team that is eager for competition and attention.
"My Chinese journey will open a new chapter. ... This will be the last season of my 21 year career," Marbury wrote in a statement online.
Since joining the CBA in early 2010, Marbury has played in three cities. But it was in Beijing where he finally found a home, joining the Ducks in 2011, becoming a permanent resident and being considered a symbol of the city's inclusiveness and endurance. He has also been accepted by locals for his willingness to respect and blend into the Chinese culture and etiquette, a crucial factor for foreign basketball imports' success in the country.
"This is my home, my destiny," Marbury wrote. "It was a long two months deciding where to go, there were other opportunities but it's hard to accept leaving Beijing to play for another city. The way this city treated me and the love bond between the people and I make me fall in love with the life here forever."
Marbury has shown interest in coaching when his basketball career is over. The New York City native has also dabbled in entertainment, starring as himself in a Chinese biopic this year titled "My Other Home."
