Dear Stephon Marbury: If You Love Your Fans, You'll Retire

Teaching children to make their beds can be difficult if they don't see the value of making something neat only to mess it up later the same day. But making your bed remains a valuable lesson, especially when you have to lie in it – like when it comes to the greatest expat among us, Stephon Marbury.

Marbury is rightly celebrated as a hero in Beijing where he led the Beijing Ducks basketball team to three championship seasons. Among a slew of honors, the capital has extended the warmest possible welcome to an expat by granting Marbury the very elusive permanent residence card.

And, the sentiment has been returned in full. For a guy working at a job overseas, Marbury has embraced his status as an “honorary Beijing citizen” by adding “Beijing dynasty” to his set of personal tattoos. Marbury has also proudly proclaimed: “No matter where I am, I am a Beijinger. Beijing is my home forever.”

This mutually-beneficial relationship has redefined what it means to be an “expat” in China. But, it’s all over now.

This past April, Marbury left the basketball team with which he found redemption after a shaky departure from the NBA. After denying Marbury’s request to end his contract as a player, the Ducks finally agreed to terminate the contract, making him a free agent.

But it doesn’t end there. Marbury’s departure from the Ducks signals a rift wider than first imagined, one that is partly cultural.

Beijing fans are overwhelmingly upset their home team have “betrayed” their own star player. And yet, Marbury insists Beijing fans should get over his departure and “be understanding about the team moving forward.” Unfortunately, this isn’t just a failure to communicate. It’s a failure to be sympathetic.

As a star basketball player, Marbury can do whatever he wants, just like how he left the NBA for the Chinese Basketball Association. But, as a person who has fully embraced China and his fans, Marbury isn’t free to do whatever he wants.

For bringing home championship gold, Marbury has been celebrated with his own statue, postage stamp, and biographical play. The pride and honor that Marbury has bestowed upon Beijing is guaranteed to last forever, threatened by only one thing: Marbury himself.

If Beijing's top model citizen follows through on his plan to join another Chinese basketball team, every success had with that other team – each point made, each game won, the eventual championship – will only serve to harm either his own legacy or the trust between the Beijing Ducks and their fans. If Marbury truly loves his fans like he says he does, he won’t do this.

Maybe that isn’t fair. Sport stars like LeBron James aren’t limited to just a single city in the west. Even though he is synonymous with the Boston Bruins, Ray Bourque won his only Stanley Cup by changing to the Colorado Avalanche in the last year of his career.

However, Marbury is well aware of how much Beijing is invested in him. At least, he should. After all, Marbury told his fans to “get over” his departure in an interview conducted in a museum made in his honor. Maybe Beijing fans have shown themselves to be loyal to a fault, but you can’t really blame them after receiving a pledge of fealty.

Working a job in China can be as simple as just doing it for the money. But when you’re doing things for love, things tend to get more complicated. In light of future plans to coach basketball in Beijing and for the sake of his fans, Marbury should do the right thing and retire.

The opinions contained in this op-ed are those of the author's, and do not necessarily reflect those of the Beijinger.

Images: JXNews.com.cn, Sina Sports, Chusids.com, Lywwxww.com

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