Stephon Marbury, once considered one of the top point guards to ever grace the hardwood floor, has agreed to play this season in the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) for the Shanxi Zhongyu. Shanxi Zhongyu announced the news on their website today, and are hoping that Starbury will be able to to help the team improve from its 15th place position (out of 17 teams) in China’s top basketball league as well as help sell more tickets. The CBA salary cap prevents teams in the CBA from paying large amounts to foreign players, but for Marbury promoting his line of cheap shoes in the world’s largest basketball market is the primary goal.

This makes Marbury the highest profile foreign basketball player to ever play in the CBA, and at age 32 he still has a lot left in the tank.  Marbury takes the title of most renown basketball player to ever play professionally in China from  Bonzi Wells  – who was also signed by Shanxi but left the club after just 2 months despite leading the league in scoring with a ridiculous 46 points per game average.

While he’s only a shadow of his former self, Marbury still has plenty of athleticism left in him and more skills than most NBA point guards today. However, in his later days in the NBA “Coney Island’s finest” was seen more of a laughing stock than a streetball legend. His weird interviews, unorthodox post game statements, and fast decline as a basketball player as last seen for the Boston Celtics last year make him an interesting target to follow, and will perhaps spark interest in the CBA from abroad.

As for Marbury’s entrepreneurial side, it’s nothing short of remarkable. The Starbury Brand which he and Ben Wallace endorse is marketed by clothing retail chain Steve & Barry’s  and manufactured in China. The Starbury brand has been the  former All-Star point guard’s main source of passion for some time now, and even sparked a debate between himself and LeBron James:

Prior to a game, upon being asked whether he could see himself promoting a shoe at the 15$ price point that Marbury’s shoes are priced  at.”No, I don’t think so,” James said. “Me being with Nike, we hold our standards high.”

Stephon’s response – “I’d rather own than be owned.”

Marbury mentions his younger days and not being able to afford a good pair of basketball shoes as his main inspiration behind the business – and what better place to continue his mission of making accessible cheap and high quality shoes than in China . There were speculation for some time now that he would play somewhere in Italy and promote his basketball shoes there, but it seems the right business move to promote his brand in China instead. Stephon’s long been known in his career for failing to lead his team to any kind of success, but in China he has his shot at redemption  – even if it is for a much different kind of success.