Basketball Star Stephon Marbury Gets His Own Postage Stamps, Permanent Residency in China

Life for Stephon Marbury in Beijing has been pretty good so far. Now in his fifth year in our fair city, he's won three Chinese Basketball Assocation (CBA) championships in four years and named this year's final series most valuable player, had a statue of him erected in front of the MasterCard Center in Wukesong, starred in a play about him, has been named one of Beijing's 10 model citizens, and of course, appeared on the February 2015 cover of the Beijinger.

Now he's getting his own postage stamp. Actually, he's getting his own postage stamp series, called "The King's Road, issued by China Post. The three-sheet, 18-stamp issue depicts Starbury at various points during his Beijing career from 2011-2015. Each "stamp" is really a stamp-sized photo, each accompanied by a standard 80 fen postage stamp.

The set may be purchased at Beijing post offices and online for RMB 98. We expect online sales of the set will be remarkably low in Liaoning.

Marbury also announced he applied for and has received for permanent residency, or a "green card," in China. The move makes sense. In his interview with the Beijinger, he indicated he will play one more year for the Beijing Ducks this coming season before moving into coaching here in China.

Photo: New York Post