There has been a lot of conversation in the league about the importance of mentorship for young athletes. Any time someone slips off track in the league, these conversations become a trend, but then slowly fade away. However, Stephon Marbury has been doing the good work without advertising it for a very long time. On the recent episode of the 7PM in Brooklyn podcast, Carmelo Anthony gave Marbury his highly deserved flowers for being a mentor to a group of youngsters, including him and LeBron James.
Advertisement
Marbury has been a strong believer in superpowers that lie within every individual for a long time. That is why he likes to impart the same wisdom to youngsters, who can use it to become better in life. On the podcast, Melo recalled how the 47-year-old always used to take his time out to teach some of the life lessons to the younger lot. He said, “In ’04, when we was on that Olympic team, he [Marbury] was talking this to us, back of the bus, every day. We were like, ‘Yo Steph, what the f**k, man.'”
Melo confessed that, at the time, he didn’t pay much attention to those lessons because he felt that he was too young to focus on those things. However, now that he is a more matured version of himself, he often reflects on those words by Marbury and is surprised by the knowledge that he was being offered at the time. Even though the youngsters didn’t take him seriously at the time, the former NBA star unveiled why he never took his foot off the gas.
Marbury said, “Once you know your strength on earth, it’s like you know your superpower, right? As a human being. The law of attraction of people when they see other people because they’re capable of doing something that they can’t do.” The two-time All-Star believes that the realization of superpower is what separates the winners from the rest of the lot. The likes of Melo and LeBron must’ve paid some attention back then because they’ve seen tremendous success in their careers.
Stephon Marbury’s $22k trick failed to make an impression
Marbury was a part of the team USA Olympic squad in 2004. Despite everything that was going on with regards to the political side of things, the team was assembled in hope for gold. The team was supposed to meet in Florida for practice and as one of the senior members on the squad, Marbury wanted to make an impression by being on time. However, he ended up missing his flight. But he was still adamant on starting the campaign in the right spirit.
So, Marbury went on and chartered a jet for himself that burned a $22k hole in his pocket. He described that experience as, “It was the worst flight ever! It was bumpy the whole time. I didn’t sleep one second on the flight.” Regardless, he made it to the facility in time, only to find out that LeBron and Allen Iverson were missing and were going to get suspended for one game. Marbury could’ve avoided all that trouble for one game suspension, if he didn’t wish to make an impression.
