Stephone Marbury became the first known Western former NBA players to receive green card to become a Chinese resident. He is considered as China's most loved American celebrity surpassing Vin Diesel and Leonardo DiCaprio.
After playing 15 years in NBA, the famous player, whom fans call as "Starbury", moved to China's basketball team Shanxi Zhongyu Brave Dragons in 2009. He also played for Beijing Ducks after some time. This move of Marbury has shocked many basketball fans in the worldwide, but the 40-year-old basketball player's hard work has paid off in many ways.
Marbury has led the Ducks on their first Chinese Basketball Association championship in 2012. The team installed a statue of him outside of the stadium. He also led the same team to get the same title in 2014 and 2015. Beijing opened a museum in honor of his career and they even issued a postal stamp dedicated to his career and honor.
"It's beyond high honors," Marbury told The Hollywood Reporter. "I'm a black kid from the ghetto of Coney Island, Brooklyn, who only ever dreamed of playing in the NBA. So to have that dream come true, but then go on this second journey in China, it's so far beyond anything that kid could have imagined."
Now, Marbury will embark on his acting career with the movie, "My Other Home." It is his biopic talking about his own Chinese success. He was awarded as the 'Best New Actor' when the film premiered at the Shanghai International Film Festival in June.
"I look at a guy like The Rock - how he started with his natural ability in sports but gravitated into Hollywood - as a model for what's possible," Marbury said. "Being the first to do these things in this country as a foreigner, it puts me in a nice position to be able to be a bridge - for positivity between our countries, for American businesses that want to cross over, or even for Hollywood."
"Playing basketball is second nature to me; acting I found far more challenging," he said adding that "China is home now" and that he has no plans in leaving his second home.
