Stephon Marbury Praises Spurs’ Paul, Wembanyama Pairing

Stephon Marbury knows the value of an elite running mate. 

From his early days with the Minnesota Timberwolves to the twilight of his NBA career in New York, the two-time All-Star was almost always joined by at least one quality scorer. 

With the Timberwolves, Marbury was flanked by a pair of skilled forwards in a young Kevin Garnett and Tom Gugliotta in the prime of his eventual 13-year NBA career. In New Jersey, Marbury and Keith Van Horn carried the scoring load for some subpar Nets teams.

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For the Phoenix Suns, Marbury and a young Shawn Marion led middling Phoenix squads before another pair of youngsters, Joe Johnson and Amar’e Stoudemire, began to blossom. During Marbury’s time with the New York Knicks, the top scoring options were a rotating cast of characters, from Jamal Crawford to Eddy Curry. 

So, when dissecting some of the league’s best players and duos on Monday’s episode of “Scoop B Radio” with Brandon “Scoop B” Robinson, it’s no surprise that the San Antonio Spurs came up in conversation. 

Sandwiched in the middle of talks about Anthony Edwards and Jalen Brunson was a brief discussion about the Spurs. Like much of the national media’s feelings towards Gregg Popovich’s crew, Marbury was excited about San Antonio — especially the pairing of Chris Paul and Victor Wembanyama, which was formed when Paul signed a one-year, $11 million deal with the Spurs back in July.

“First, let me say … how Coach Pop it was to bring in Chris Paul,” Marbury said. 

The take makes sense considering that the Spurs have almost always had a steady point guard under Popovich, from Avery Johnson to Tony Parker to Dejounte Murray. Now, it’s Paul taking the torch as the quarterback of the offense. 

Most of Paul’s career has seen him land in situations that eventually proved to be prosperous; each of Paul’s six previous teams have made the playoffs while he was there, or in the case of the Golden State Warriors last season, made the Play-In Tournament.

Marbury sees a similarly bright future in San Antonio. 

“Let me tell you how genius of it, it was for Chris Paul to just straight revitalize his career again. It’s like he’s the luckiest point guard ever every two to three years!” Marbury said. “He gets great opportunities. He’s somewhere now doing hand exercises and ankle exercises.” 

READ MORE: Chris Paul Understands Expectations, Knows What He Wants With Spurs

Two areas that Paul and Wembanyama could prove to be extremely successful in are on the fastbreak and in the pick-and-roll. After all, Paul quarterbacked the Lob City Clippers and built a lethal alley-oop connection with Clint Capela in Houston.

It’s especially exciting because the Spurs weren’t strong in either aspect of the game even with the addition of Wembanyama. San Antonio finished in the bottom half of the league in pick-and-roll points per possession (0.85, t-23rd) and transition points per possession (1.12, t-18th) per NBA.com.

The prospect of Paul and Wembanyama had Marbury so giddy that his praise involved some of the best duos and high-flyers of the 21st century — including one of Marbury’s former teammates.

“Unbelievable,” he said. “That’s what I’m trying to tell you. It’s like having Jason Kidd with Vince Carter, [Desmond] Mason. This guy is all of the high-flying jumping dudes who catch lobs and run the floor … Shawn Marion, too.”

Overall, Marbury is looking forward to what the Silver & Black can accomplish this season. He had strong takes aplenty Monday, but perhaps the biggest of them all?

He said that Wembanyama will be the face of the NBA for years to come. 

“There’s no doubt about that,” the former player said.