"Starbury" is the temperamental former Knicks guard, who went from being a highly-touted NYC schoolboy prospect to one of the most reviled athletes in New York City, before leaving the Knicks and joining the Boston Celtics for a quick stint in 2009. In an unconventional move, these days he plays for the Beijing Ducks in China.

Born and raised on Coney Island, Marbury attended Abraham Lincoln High School, where he attracted attention as one of the city's rising young stars and earned comparisons to former Knicks Mark Jackson and Kenny Anderson. Marbury went on to spend a year in college at Georgia Tech before breaking into the NBA with Minnesota. But he had trouble finding a home in the NBA, first bouncing to the New Jersey Nets to escape Kevin Garnett's shadow in Minnesota, then getting traded to the Phoenix Suns for Jason Kidd in a lopsided deal that singlehandedly revitalized the Nets' fortunes. He came home to the Knicks in a 2004 trade. His initial popularity in the city didn't last long though. After four seasons in New York, the Knicks bought out Marbury's contract in 2009 and left him open to sign with the Boston Celtics as a free agent. He lasted in Boston for a season before making a big move to play in China. After playing on a number of teams in the CBA, he found a home on the Beijing Ducks, leading them to a championship in 2012.

Despite his considerable talent, Marbury has acquired a reputation as a difficult, selfish, diva-like player on the court, and the contrasts with the team-oriented point guards who succeeded him in New Jersey (Jason Kidd) and Phoenix (Steve Nash) hasn't reflected well on him. His behavior off the court hasn't been any better. He feuded viciously with former Knicks coach Larry Brown, who lobbied to have him cut from the U.S. Olympic team in 2004, and watched his unpopularity reach new heights in the '07-'08 season when, in the span of a few weeks in the fall, he confessed to having sex with a Knicks intern, brawled with Isiah Thomas after the coach threatened to bench him, and skipped a game in Phoenix. However, he credits his newfound success in China to Chinese culture, which is "filled with love, compassion, and care." [Image via Getty]