Getty Stephon Marbury at the FIBA World Cup in China.
Stephon Marbury was a two-time All-Star who played 13 seasons in the NBA and transformed himself into an icon in Chinese basketball, first as a player for nine years—winning three CBA championships—and now as a coach for the Beijing Royal Fighters.
For all his accomplishments, though, one thing that stands out about Marbury has been his frosty relationship with LeBron James, his teammate on the 2004 Olympic team that began as a disaster but wound up netting the U.S. a bronze medal.
Even now, as player protests and boycotts have been the topic of the day—with James often a central figure in the direction NBA players take—Marbury hints that he feels James ought to be doing more, or at least doing things different.
Speaking to Brandon “Scoop B” Robinson on Thursday as part of the Heavy on Lakers Show, Marbury addressed both James and the wider move toward taking a stand for social justice among NBA players.
“I think LeBron James is a great player, he is a great advocate for speaking out when there are times when he should speak out,” Marbury said. “I think he does that. I do think that it can be more, it can be done in a different way, where it can transition where it’s prophylactic toward giving people a real understanding about what’s actually happening.
“I think from me being around LeBron James, from playing with him in the Olympics, I have different opinions. I think from the foundation of who he is, he has grown in a lot of ways and I think what he’s trying to do is good. He is trying to stand up for Black people.”
James Disrespect Over Starbury Sneakers Sticks With Marbury
To illustrate that, Robinson and Marbury explored a moment in time from 13 years ago, when James was playing for the Cavaliers and Marbury for the Knicks. At the time, Marbury had put out his line of shoes and clothing, Starbury, which he made available at prices kids and families could afford—$14.98 for sneakers and $9.99 for T-shirts and sweatshirts.
James, who was in the midst of a $90 million deal with Nike at the time, was asked about Starbury and was quoted as saying, “Me being with Nike, we hold our standards high.”
That stuck with Marbury, who felt that James was tearing down his attempts to make shoes and clothes accessible to all types of kids at the behest of Nike. At the time, James’ sneakers sold for $150 and a T-shirt went for $55.
“I said, ‘I’d rather own than be owned,’” he told Robinson. “I thought, here is a kid that comes from the ghetto, that comes from a place where there are Black kids that are just like him and I. Here’s a guy that has been transformed by people that don’t look like us and been told what to say and what to speak on. Because obviously there were talking points that were given to him.
“It wasn’t him that was actually speaking and talking about what it was and what it was that I was trying to do to help people that look like him and look like myself. I thought that, at the time when he said what he said, I thought that he was being coached.”
Marbury made some cracks recently about James’ receding hairline and his ill-fated use of hair plugs in an Instagram Live interview. He pointed out, though, that he, too is bald and said there was “no malice” in what he saw as good-natured joking—especially not with the history he has with James and with the comments James made denigrating Marbury’s sneaker line.
“Not only was it insensitive, but it was like, he did what [Nike] told him to say,” Marbury said. “Against someone who was trying to do something for someone who looked like him. For me, that was a no-no. That was a real no-no. He has yet to speak on that and talk about it, and why? I’ve moved past it. But now, it’s just kind of like, I can crack when I want to crack, I can joke when I want to joke.”
Marbury on Boycotts: ‘These Guys Know That This Could Very Well Be Them’
Marbury and Robinson also discussed the state of NBA as it copes with the player boycotts of this week. He complimented the league’s handling of the situation and, also, the way the players have opened their eyes to the reality of police violence—especially the notion of that violence affecting them or their families in some way.
“The NBA knows that these guys are the people who are dealing with the struggle or dealing with the challenge of what’s happening in our society where black men are being shot in their backs because of whatever happened,” Marbury said. “The guilty people don’t deserve to be killed either. Just because they’re guilty doesn’t mean they deserve to be shot and killed, just as innocent people. Now we’re dealing with something where these guys know that this could very well be them. Because I cop may not recognize that that’s LeBron James or that’s not Donovan Mitchell or Damian Lillard or Kawhi Leonard. They may not know who these guys are.”
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