It’s easy to forget now, but Stephon Marbury was probably the first NBA player with some notoriety to openly discuss the possibility of leaving the NBA to ply his trade in Europe. When he brought it up last summer, everyone assumed it was just the latest round of Marburyian madness and brushed it aside.
Today, of course, plenty of NBAers have left for the greener pastures of the EuroLeague, and some major names have said they’ll consider it when their current deals are up. As for Marbury, he’s making it known once again that he’s not long for the NBA.
From the NY Post:
“When I made comments about playing overseas people took it out of perspective, thought I was talking about leaving while still playing for the Knicks. It was turned into something negative about going to Italy. Now it seems it’s OK.”
“Why wouldn’t you want to play basketball, still make money and live in a place that’s beautiful,” Marbury added. “Milan is definitely where I want to play basketball at. That’s where I fell in love with Italy.”
Of course, it remains to be seen if any Italian ball clubs will actually want his services following next year.
As for his current team, Donnie Walsh says Marbury will be welcome at training camp with open arms but doesn’t sound all that enthused about the prospect, and frankly, neither does Stephon.
