Stephon Marbury
Brooklyn’s own Stephon Marbury has a litany of incidents that could put him on the Mount Rushmore of sports divas. From his public spats with former coaches including Mike Brown and Isiah Thomas, even almost coming to blows with the latter on a team charter, to showing up to Knicks-Lakers game in LA after being banned from Knicks practices and games, he is one of the OGs of the diva game. Toward the end of his time in the NBA, then Knicks coach Mike D’Antoni gave Marbury 35 minutes a game, but coming off of the bench. Furious at this move, the guard refused to enter the game when his number was called. That was only a re-occurring theme, as he was famously shipped out of Minnesota back in ’99 when he demanded the team pay him the same amount as Kevin Garnett. Bouncing from team to team, Marbury racked up a lot of numbers, none of which translated to winning for his teams. He soon took his talents to China, playing in the CBA, this only after he was unceremoniously given the boot by the Knicks and no other franchises were willing to put up with his antics. To further put things into perspective, pro wrestler Montal Vontavious Porter (or MVP) cited that his characters gimmick was inspired by arrogant athletes, Stephon Marbury being the most influential.
