Stephon Marbury headed to China

Former NBA bench warmer Stephon Marbury is leaving the United States and heading to China to play for the Shanxi Zhongyu Brave Dragons of the Chinese Basketball Association, according to the team’s United States-based consultant.

PHOTO CAPTION:  Marbury speaks with The President of Basketball Operations for the Brave Dragons, Isiahxing Thomaswang.

“The aim of signing Marbury is to pay back our fans and try to win more games in the rest of the season,” the team’s owner, Wang Xingjiang, told Reuters, which first reported the transaction.  Ironically, Marbury has a lot of fans to pay back as well, but most of them are located in New York.

Wang added that Marbury’s contract was not large but that Marbury would have the opportunity to extend his shoe brand, Starbury, in China.  OTR is not sure if the contract included an ‘all-you-can-opium-smoke’ player option.