Stephon Marbury: 2004 Olympics were 'worst 38 days of my life'

Before Stephon Marbury left the NBA to become a superstar in China — with a statue, no less — he was considered to be one of the Association’s most popular point guards. Unfortunately, as Marbury recounts, he wasn’t that popular with eventual New York Knicks coach Larry Brown.

In an interview with Complex, Marbury called his time with Team USA in the 2004 Olympics the “worst 38 days” of his life because of his relationship — or lack thereof — with Brown, who coached the team.

Marbury remembered his introduction to Brown’s coaching style that he eventually butted heads with in New York, describing a story that illustrated the two not getting off on the right foot. After fellow Olympians such as LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony and Allen Iverson stated their goals before the U.S. national team eventually settled for the bronze medal in embarrassing fashion, Marbury added his two cents — much to Brown’s dismay.

Marbury recounted, “By the time (Brown) got to me, everything was said that needed to be said. So I said, ‘let’s also not forget that we need to have fun.’ And Larry goes, ‘Huh. Listen to this guy, talking about having fun.’”

Although stern, Brown was known for coaching one of the NBA’s biggest hotheads in Iverson, even in spite of clashing with the future Hall of Famer. But Marbury and Brown’s relationship was tumultuous from the get-go and never got better.

“I begged (then-Knicks president) Isiah (Thomas) not to bring (Brown) to the Knicks,” Marbury said. “It was just unbearable, man. Nobody wanted to play for him. The whole energy was terrible. But it was the environment he wanted: Misery.”

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