Stephon Marbury Gains Museum, and Green Card, in China

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/24/world/asia/stephon-marbury-china-basketball.html

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BEIJING — This year is ending on an especially high note for Stephon Marbury, the former N.B.A. point guard who came to China five years ago in hopes of a new start and rocketed to fame and favor, leading the Beijing Ducks to three Chinese Basketball Association championships.

He had already been honored with a statue, a musical based on his life and a series of postage stamps. Last year, the mayor of Beijing awarded him “honorary citizenship” for his contributions to the city’s home team.

Then, on Monday, Mr. Marbury, 38, presided over the opening in Beijing of a museum, the House of Marbury, devoted to his career. And on Friday, Christmas Day, his agent said, he will receive a Chinese green card, becoming one of the most prominent Americans to be granted permanent residence status in China.

“I’m so blessed and thankful to receive my Chinese green card,” he wrote last week on his Weibo microblog after his application was approved. “I feel like my love for China is being shown in the same way. Being the first foreign basketball player to receive a green card means a lot in making history in China. Thank you so much!”

Since the permanent residence program was set up in 2004, only about 5,000 foreigners of more than 600,000 living in China have been granted a green card, according to China Daily, a state-run newspaper.

Government guidelines say that permanent status applicants should have a direct investment in China, hold senior positions in companies or academic institutions, or have significant talents and skills needed in China.

Mr. Marbury told China Daily that holding a green card would mean he would no longer have to apply for a visa to stay in China and that it would enable him to bring business to China and “do all little different things in Beijing.” He added, “That’s a historical moment.”

On Weibo, his fans responded with similar enthusiasm.

“Good to have ya not only as Duck player, but real Beijinger!” a user identified as Liu PengBryan wrote.

“Congratulations,” a commenter with the handle Xiao Rui loves Beijing Ducks wrote. “We will always love you, and we are a family!”

The good cheer was in clear evidence on Monday, when Mr. Marbury inaugurated the House of Marbury, a short distance from Tiananmen Square in Beijing.

“Today was one of the best days of my life in opening my own museum,” he wrote on Weibo, maintaining his ebullient tone. “I couldn’t of dreamed this dream for myself although God has created another miracle in this life for me. Without my teammates, coaches and fans from Beijing, this wouldn’t be possible.”

The museum, which displays photos of Mr. Marbury tracing his younger years in Brooklyn, his N.B.A. career and his new life in China, will open to the public next Monday, the state news agency Xinhua reported. It quoted Mr. Marbury as saying at the opening ceremony that his Beijing Ducks jersey meant the most to him of all six jerseys exhibited at the museum.

“I don’t say that because of the championship, but just because I’m here at home and I’ve had a support system,” he said at the ceremony, which family members and Beijing Ducks teammates and coaches attended.

In 2010, Mr. Marbury, who had played for the Minnesota Timberwolves, New Jersey Nets, Phoenix Suns, New York Knicks and Boston Celtics, wrapped up his N.B.A. years and went to China to start anew. After playing briefly with the Shanxi Zhongyu Brave Dragons and the Foshan Dralions, he joined the Beijing Ducks in 2011. In the four years since, he has led the team to three national championships.

Thus the statue, the musical, the honorary city citizenship, the stamp, the museum and next, the green card. And his fans’ fervor is unabated.

“My father and I watch every of your games on TV together,” wrote a user identified as Shuo_Xs on Weibo. “Because of you, the Beijing team now has hopes, and my father and I now have more to talk about and we are becoming closer. I support you forever.”