Stephon Marbury Denies Fan Altercation

Playing in China has been a great thing for Stephon Marbury, but the former NBA star is now facing some backlash from a controversial game.

Marbury is denying that he got physical with a group of fans after his team lost a game in the the Chinese Basketball Association. The former Knicks star was on the Beijing Ducks bus with teammates when rival fans of the Shanxi Brave Dragons started slamming the windows of the van.

When asked about a possible altercation, the 35-year-old guard told China Daily that he was kept away from agitated fans by team security guards on his way out of the gym.

“I didn’t do that, how could I do it over the security guards?” Marbury told the newspaper. “I can’t believe it (the chaos). I can understand if we won. We lost the game and were being held hostage. This is ridiculous and uncalled for. They should enjoy their victory by feeling good about winning a controversial match.”

Shanxi fans delayed the game for 10 minutes by throwing water bottles on the court to show distaste for what they felt was a bad call. Marbury ended up with 25 points in the two-point loss. Former NBA players Randolph Morris and Marcus Williams were also involved in the game.

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“We will truly present what happened in the match to the disciplinary committee of the association. We believe proper penalty measures will be taken in time,” Zhang Xiong, a senior executive of the CBA, told China Daily. “It is so sad to see this type of thing happening again. At the end of the day, I think it’s not what most fans wanted. The reactions (to some of the calls) could be understood, but some fans just went too far.”

This is only the most recent incident of Chinese sports fans acting badly. The AP reports that last summer players from Georgetown’s basketball team were attacked by players from a professional team as fans tossed water bottles at the Hoyas players.

Marbury is a beloved figure in China, and he hopes to coaching the nation’s Olympic team after he retires.

Follow Ben Maller on Twitter @BenMaller.

Source: http://www.thepostgame.com/blog/dish/201203/stephon-marbury-denies-hitting-chinese-fan

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Posted by WoodlawnPost on Mar 14 2012. Filed under Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.