Former basketball star Stephon Marbury predicts the National Basketball Association (NBA) will see higher salaries and bigger personalities over the next decade.
Marbury, 45, who retired from the NBA to play in China’s basketball league in 2009, believes that “basketball star salaries will increase in the near future.” Last season, the median salary for players in the NBA was just over $4.3 million, with Stephen Curry earning the highest salary for the season at around $45.7 million, according to ESPN.
Marbury makes appearances on Showtime’s alongside former players such as Mark Jackson and Kenny Smith NYC point godsa documentary about basketball culture in New York City, produced by Kevin Durant and Rich Kleiman’s Boardroom.
Additionally, Marbury predicts that players in the NBA will see a growth in opportunities outside of basketball, namely in entertainment. Alongside an increase in income, Marbury told PEOPLE, “Players are going to keep getting more entertaining over the next ten seasons.”
The former New York Knick also believes the increased mainstream media attention for the league is due to increased opportunities for players in the league to expand their skills. “With so many ways to play the game, players are constantly evolving their games. It’s great to see the game improve in this way,” says the athlete.
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NYC point gods is Durant and Kleiman’s second with Marbury, which became the subject of the Boardroom 2020 documentary, A kid from Coney Island, centered on Marbury’s own journey from a lackluster lifestyle in the NBA to a six-time All-Star in the Chinese Basketball League. in the A kid from Coney IslandMarbury says, “I went from making $20 million a year to zero.”
“Stephon’s journey hasn’t been without turbulence, but that’s real life,” producers Forest Whitaker and Nina Yang Bongiovi told PEOPLE at the time of release. “He is now a cultural ambassador between Asia and America – and we love to see him rise and inspire millions of youth around the world.”
Kleiman, co-founder of Thirty Five Ventures, continued, “I think all of us as consumers and viewers always want to see that heroic story and that redemption story. I don’t think people really understood how low it went and what great highs [Stephon] reached. What he achieved in China – on the other side of the world – was incredible and overwhelming. I can’t even imagine another story like this in any sport.”
“It was great to see all the NYC GODS getting their flowers,” says Marbury of the new Showtime documentary. “I’m blessed to be among the best players in New York. It’s an honor to be featured with these guys. I’m happy that Kevin Durant and Rich Kleiman made it happen. It’s a win for New York basketball culture.”
