Stephon Marbury was brought to tears on Wednesday as a fan reminisced about the Beijing Ducks winning a basketball championship three years ago.

Considered by many as Beijing's most beloved foreigner and known in China as Ma Bu Li, the basketball star returned to his hometown New York, where he spoke about his love for Beijing at an event at New York University.

Marbury cried when a fan named Tobias Zhou described watching him and the Ducks win the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) championship.

"The culture, the people, the food, the atmosphere of what's been created when there's a championship there, how can you not love Beijing?" mused Marbury, who was nicknamed "political commissar Ma" or "old Ma" by Chinese teammates and fans.

"It's the deep bond in Beijing, many people just do not know," said Marbury. "When you played on the court, you can feel the energy of the city. You can watch the whole city cry and hug each other when you won the championship. It's just so powerful."

Marbury, 40, has been a fan favorite in China since he began playing there in 2010. The 6-2 point guard was named most valuable player of the CBA three times and helped the Ducks win three league titles. He also was named an honorary citizen of Beijing and one of the city's 10 "model citizens" in 2014.

Earlier this year, Marbury signed a one-year contract with the rival Beijing Dragons, which enabled him to continue his love affair with the Chinese capital and basketball for one more year.

"We gotta try to win the championship this year," said Marbury, when asked about the expectation of his final session in Beijing.

"There has been big progress in Chinese basketball since I've been there for nine years. Now, we see Zhou and Ding play in Houston and in Dallas, so there are more opportunities coming about because of the progress and the development of Chinese basketball," said Marbury, himself an NBA All-Star in 2001 and 2003.

"I think they both can play in the NBA; they have the talent, the heart and the skills," Marbury said about the performances of Zhou Qi and Ding Yanyuhang in the NBA Summer League. "I think they got to get stronger, which is natural when you are a younger player."

The native of Coney Island, Brooklyn has expanded his career off the basketball court, too. He wrote a column for China Daily in 2012 and 2013. In 2014, he appeared in a musical, I Am Stephon Marbury, which played Beijing for 13 performances in front of 1,500 theatergoers a night.

His story was told in a Chinese biopic My Other Home, for which he won the Best New Actor award at the Shanghai Film Festival this year.

Marbury said that when he retires, he would consider coaching in China and travel between the US and China.

"There are many good teams there, but Beijing is definitely my first option," he said.

ruinanzhang@chinadailyusa.com

(China Daily USA 08/31/2017 page2)