Stephon Marbury Officially A Permanent Resident of China; Will The Ducks Bounce Back Next Season?
We reported almost exactly a year ago that basketball star Stephon Marbury had applied for and was granted permanent residency in China, so we're surprised at the media jamboree surrounding him finally getting the card in his hand. Slow news day, we guess.
Marbury received his card from Vice Mayor Zhang Jiandong. "Right now, in Chinese history, the first foreign player to win a green card," Marbury posted on Twitter.
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"I am so thankful and blessed to receive my green card today from the Beijing government. It's a true honor to be a part of the capital of China. I hope I can not only help win more championships but continue to bring positive energy and love," Marbury wrote on Weibo.
During the card-issuing ceremony, the vice mayor praised Marbury's performance both on and off the court, referring to his off-court charitable endeavors such as visiting sick kids in hospitals.
Since its introduction in 2004, China's "green card" has been notoriously difficult for foreigners to obtain because of strict rules and bureaucratic documentation requirements. Among the 600,000 foreigners living in China, only 5,000 have been granted permanent residency, and none of them were basketball players prior to Marbury, according to China Daily.
Marbury is set to star in a movie My Other Home with Korean pop star Jessica Jung. The movie, chronicling Marbury's move to China and rise to fame, will start shooting this month, and will be on the big screen by the end of the year.
At the ceremony, Marbury reassured Vice Mayor Zhang that things would be different next season, following the Beijing Ducks loss to Xinjiang in the first round of the CBA playoffs. However, we don't necessarily share Starbury's optimism. Here's why.
Marbury averaged 19.7 points, 5.6 assists, 4.6 rebounds, and 1.9 steals per game last season. Even though all these statistics are about the same as the previous season's numbers, a closer look at his games suggests that Marbury has been gradually changing with his playing style, from more of a basket attacker to more of a passer and knockdown shooter. In last season, Marbury was shooting behind the three-point line more often than before (5.5 three-point shots per game in 2016 versus 3.6 three-point shots per game in 2015), and his average free-throw tries per game dropped to the lowest in his entire CBA career.
Such a twilight-year change in playing style is usually welcomed for a point guard in the NBA, but it is not the case in the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA), a league that allows only two foreign players per team who usually play at a significantly higher level than most of their Chinese teammates. The widening capability discrepancy between CBA's Chinese and foreign players in recent years encourages CBA teams to sign foreign players who can sink baskets by themselves, instead of choosing players who are less known for their scoring ability.
With Marbury and Randolph Morris staying with the Ducks next season, Beijing needs to make sure the Chinese players they chase in free agency are good fits, that is to say, back court players who can help Marbury with scoring and attacking the basket, otherwise they may find themselves trapped in an even tougher season than the last one. So far Beijing has only signed defensive-minded guard Duan Jiangpeng from Shanxi Dragons, whom I consider a total miss. There is also rumor about Beijing approaching Liaoning Leopards' center Han Dejun, which Han denied on his Weibo. But, who knows.
CBA seasons usually kick off in November and teams are able to sign players by early October.
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