On the other side of the globe from Coney Island, former Knicks star Stephon Marbury made his debut in China yesterday and told The Post he was suffering from major jet lag.
Marbury scored 15 points and had eight assists as his new team, Shanxi lost 102-101 to Dongguan Marco Polo. He had four steals and four rebounds, but shot 0 for 6 from 3-point range, according to China Daily.
“The time difference is a big problem,” Marbury told The Post via Skype yesterday. “I wake up early, in the middle of the night, and stay up most of the day. It stinks. I have not played since the last game against the Magic [in the second round of the playoffs last May]. So I was tired. I played 28 minutes, all of the fourth quarter. Talk about being tired. Wow. It was fun being out there though.”
Marbury reportedly passed up a final shot with five seconds remaining, feeding to former Knicks teammate Maurice Taylor, who missed the potential game-winning jumper. Shanxi is one of the worst teams in the Chinese Basketball Association.
Marbury, who failed to get a free-agent deal this past summer after finishing last season with the Celtics, was in good spirits, even though The Post awoke him from his rare slumber at 2 a.m. China time. China is 13 hours ahead of New York.
“It was great to be back on the court,” Marbury said. “Basketball is my job, and I was excited about being able to be back out on the court and do what I love to do. It’s a great experience. The fans are great. They show real love.”
Marbury sounded a tad homesick when he heard the Knicks have fallen on hard times again — they are 11 games under .500 and slipping out of the playoff race. Marbury was banished by coach Mike D’Antoni at the start of last season and the Knicks bought out his contract last February.
Marbury said he still does not understand why D’Antoni was so desperate to hand the team over to point guard Chris Duhon, who has struggled with the Knicks. The Knicks are still searching for point-guard help.
“If Mike would have given me a chance, he wouldn’t have been in the spot he is in now,” Marbury said. “I was ready for him because he said get ready. And I did. It’s water under the bridge.”
Marbury is yearning to return to the NBA next season and has not crossed the Knicks off his list for the future, believing he once had “a great relationship” with owner James Dolan.
“I wish them well,” Marbury said. “No one there on the team loves the Knicks like I do. I still love the Knicks no matter what. That’s real love, no matter what anyone says about me. All of what I went through in New York took the air out of the ball.”
Marbury, who turned down a veteran’s minimum contract offer from the Celtics on July 1, told The Post during the preseason that he would sit out the year, but he elected to play overseas as a way to market his Starbury apparel line to the world’s most populated country.