BEIJING -- Two-time NBA All-Star Stephon Marbury will become the highest profile American to play in the Chinese Basketball Association after he agreed to join the league's Shanxi club. The 32-year-old, a free agent since leaving the Boston Celtics last season, had agreed to a deal with the northern club and would arrive in Shanxi next week, the team announced on its official Web site. "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 vacation but failed to return on time.
I love a good comeback story but this sounds like anything but a positive return. The Chinese Basketball league? Is that the CBL? Starbury is a year away from being the lead star in a horse and donkey show somewhere in Tiajuana. Where is Shanxi? Is it near Shanghai? They say Beijing is the next sex capital of the Pacific so maybe that's why our boy is heading to the far east. I just don't get why he'd want to play for this team. They're not the Celtics. They're the Nets of Chinese basketball. And I'm not joking when I say even the Nets couldn't get me off the couch to suit up for them. You wouldn't wanna lose your favorite blogger to the NBA, would you?
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