(Reporting by Liu Zhen and Nick Mulvenney; Editing by Peter Rutherford)

joec32033 wrote:NBA All Star Marbury signs up for China league

Reuters
Monday, January 18, 2010; 4:56 AM

BEIJING (Reuters) - Twice NBA All Star point guard Stephon Marbury will become the highest profile American to play in the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) after he agreed to join China's Shanxi Club.

The 32-year-old, a free agent since leaving the Boston Celtics last season, had agreed a deal with the northern club and would arrive in Shanxi next week, the team announced on their official website (www.sxcba.com).

"The aim of signing Marbury is to pay back our fans and try to win more games in the rest of the season," said Shanxi boss Wang Xingjiang.

The 2001 and 2003 NBA All Star was expected to help boost Shanxi's ticket sales as well as their chances of making the playoffs. Shanxi is currently 15th in the 17-team league.

Wang added that Marbury's salary would not be too high because the former New Jersey Nets and Phoenix Suns player wanted to promote his personal brand of shoes in China.

Shanxi last season hired former NBA player Bonzi Wells, who scored as many as 50 points a game. The contract ended after less than two months when Wells went on holiday but failed to return on time.

(Reporting by Liu Zhen and Nick Mulvenney; Editing by Peter Rutherford)

Marbury for 100.

efw wrote:what happened to Italy?!

Chinese girls get in the truck quicker???

nyk4ever wrote:how do you say all alone in chinese?

I don't know. But what are the odds of him coming back with a Chinese tattoo on the other side of his head?

Paladin55 wrote:What is the over/under for when he decides he no longer wants to be in China?

That depends on how quickly China produces Vaseline.

orangeblobman wrote:Did you catch what team he's going to? They're in 15th place in a league of 17. This guy and winning just do not go together.

Some things never change.

DrAlphaeus wrote:I hope he doesn't make an ass of himself or get into some international incident. I hope it works out better than here. He is the poster child of why some players need an agent. He could have been in the cut in Celtic green but instead he's gonna pimp Starbury Inc. The shoes are made out there, so hey, it might work out for him on the business tip.

Unfortunately, I think that Marbury won't make any news there. The Chinese run a tight ship and I'm assuming they won't hesitate to pull the plug on his antics if any problems should arise.