Former NBA All-Star Stephon Marbury has agreed to play for 3 more years with Shanxi Zhongyu of the Chinese Basketball Association.

The 33-year-old New York City native has played 15 games last season with the team and became a fan favorite in the rustbelt city of Taiyuan, showing none of his defiant personality that had stormed the management, the teams and even fans in the U.S.

Marbury will play two more years and has an option to become an assistant coach in the third. His salary will be the same as of last season, which was never announced, but team owner Wang Xingjiang stated that he offered Marbury $100,000 to play half of the season in China.

As a part of the deal, the team owners will create a company that will produce and sell shoes and apparels from the point guard’s “Starbury” brand. The company will also put up 3 Starbury shops, thought details have not been decided, the team said.

Marbury became the highest-profile NBA player to join China’s professional basketball league which produced players like Yao Ming and Wang ZhiZhi, who successfully entered the NBA.

Want to earn some spare money as a writer for us? Send us an email!