Many people from Brooklyn, New York, the city in which Stephon Marbury was born and raised, have known about his basketball skills for an extremely long time because "...he was dribbling on a court not long after he was dribbling on his bib"(Ryan, 56). Mr. Marbury described himself as mouthy and inconsiderate. He loved to "talk trash" to opposing team's players and even their coaches.

In 1988 Hoop Scoop, a recruiting newsletter, anointed him the bext sixth-grader in the nation...Up to that point, Marbury says, "I wasn't a very nice kid. I thought I was it. It was y'all supposed to talk to me, I'm not supposed to talk to y'all. i'd just come out on the court, just talk junk, with this walk and this look." In CYO ball he woofed at opposing coaches: I'm just killing your guards. Get someone out here who can stop me(Wolff, 62).

By the time that Mr. Marbury was a Sophomore in high school at Abraham Lincoln High School in Brooklyn

Stephon Marbury was not the only person in his immediate family to play college basketball. His oldest brother, Eric "Sky Dog" Marbury played at Georgia between 1979 to 1982 and was cut by the then San Diego Clippers in 1982. His second oldest brother, Donnie "Sky Pup" Marbury was undrafted, although he led the southwest confernce in scoring as a senior at Texas A&M in 1985 to 1986. His third oldest brother, Norman "Jou-Jou" Marbury was described as, "'the purest point guard you'd ever want to see'"(Wolff, 62), but he failed to make the requirement to play college basketball on the Scholastic Avchievement Test and therfore, had to settle for junior college. Norman Marbury played only one year of Division I college basketball his senior year at St. Francis College in Brooklyn. Stephon, the fourth of five brothers, has a little brother, Moses Marbury, who currently plays basketball at Lincoln High. He is currently a Junior guard, but is not the phenom that Stephon is.

Mr. Marbury met another high school basketball phenomenon from South Carolina, Kevin Garnett. They both currently play on the Minnesota Timberwolves. They both knew of each other and had always wanted to meet. One evening, Mr. Marbury got Mr. Garnett's phone number and gave him a phone call. They talked together for several hours about basketball, women, and other interests that teenagers share. Eventually, their phone bills became the price of a nice pair of basketball shoes, or about one hundred dollars.

The Timberwolves once again lost the first round of the playoffs to a veteran team, the Seattle Supersonics. The Supersonics was led by Gary Payton, Hersey Hawkins, and Vin Baker. Stephon Marbury proved to be too much for Gary Payton, also called the "glove" because he leads the NBA in steals, by scoring 69 points in five games. Mr. Marbury lead the team to a victory during the second game by scoring 23 points and giving 9 assists in the 97-90 victory. The games then moved to Minnesota at the Target Center. Once again the Timberwolves defeated the veteran Supersonics by a score of 98-90. During the fourth and fifth games of the playoffs, Mr. Marbury did not shoot very well from the field. He averaged 29.6%; well underneath his normal average. Lead by the superb shooting of Hersey Hawkins and Gary Payton, the Timberwolves were once again defeated in the first round of the playoffs. Stephon Marbury had began to talk about being traded to the New York Knicks.

Stephon Marbury still needed to get prepared mentally. All of the criticism that followed him throughout high school and college was still lurking around him. Stephon learned a few of the secrets that the NBA players know. He learned how to foul without the officials catching him, he learned how to take his defender one on one, and other things that make players great. I once heard him and Kevin Garnett in an interview about what they thought about the professionals. They both said, "It's just a bunch of old guys who foul a lot and whine when they get caught." Mr. Marbury felt that he was ready to help lead the struggling Minnesota Timberwolves to the playoffs.

, he had changed his act. He learned to treat everybody with respect and to be

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