On this week’s episode of ESPN’s E:60, Lisa Salters sat down with Stephon Marbury for an in-depth look back at his road to the Boston Celtics. Marbury opens up about the highs and lows of his 13-year NBA career, including leaving Kevin Garnett and the Minnesota Timberwolves, returning home to the New York Knicks and the turmoil that ensued, the impact of his father’s death, and signing with the world champions.

On 2009 NBA season:
Everything that I went through this year, it was tough. It was like being in jail. Then to end up in this situation, it’s like you go from hell to being in heaven.

On demanding a trade from the Timberwolves in 1998:
I don’t want to tell you that I’ma stay, I’ma stay, I’ma stay here, and then when it’s time to re-sign, then I leave and then ya’ll stuck and then ya’ll don’t have a point guard. So I was looking out for the franchise and I was trying to do the honorable thing. [Salters: Why didn't you want to stay?] I just wanted to, I wanted to move, move on. You know I wanted to leave Minnesota. I didn’t want to live there.

On joining the Knicks in 2004:
That was one of the happiest times of my life. [Salters: Why?] Because I got an opportunity to go back home. I got an opportunity to play for the team that I idolized. I felt like going home was gonna be perfect for me.

On Knicks sexual harassment case:
I wasn’t proud of the things that I did. Not at all. You know it wasn’t the right thing, you know. I made a mistake, I’m human. And I asked for forgiveness, I apologized. There wasn’t nothing else I could do.

On death of father, who suffered heart attack during Knicks game unbeknown to Marbury:
I basically lost my mind when my father died. You know, going to the psychiatrist was the best thing that I ever did. You know growing up, growing up in the projects you think you go to a psychiatrist, people are gonna think you’re crazy. No. You’re crazy if you don’t go. I had post traumatic stress from different things that was going on. [Salters: Was it diagnosed as post traumatic stress?] Yeah. He told me, he was like you’re a mess right now, basically.

Read the rest of this entry »