Away from the court, the American has been given the key to the city, making him an honorary citizen, and on April 18 his image was printed on a new postage stamp, a rare recognition for any athlete or foreigner. In April he was also rubbing shoulders with movie stars such as Arnold Schwarzenegger on the red carpet at the Beijing International Film Festival.

So it seemed a natural move when the father of three announced recently he had applied for a "green card", the permanent residence permit given to foreigners who make an outstanding contribution to China.

"I mean it's amazing, it's all positive. It's great to be able to have the respect from the people," Marbury said with a smile. "It's hard living in the moment when you have to make decisions in your life, for your family, to actually do something like leave America to go to the CBA to play, and then all these positive things come out of it: a statue, a key to the city, a green card, and the stamps.

"You can't actually dream this type of dream. ... I couldn't have put this down on paper when I left America, that these are the things that are going to happen."

Unsurprisingly, Marbury's Chinese green card application caused an online sensation, with many people saying the move was a way for him to express his love for his adopted home.

"China needs Stephon Marbury more than Yao Ming when it comes to the future of its basketball league," sports columnist Yang Hua wrote. "Unlike before, we don't crave a hero like Yao who can travel thousands of miles to prove something to the Americans. Instead, we're working on attracting foreign players like Marbury to come and lift the game here."

Marbury is a fan magnet in China. En route to his first championship in 2012, Game 5 of the finals between the Beijing Ducks and Guangdong Tigers was the most-watched game of that year. And in March, 190 million TV viewers tuned in for the six-game finals, averaging 17.4 million per game, an all-time CBA record.

His teammates also adore him. "He is always the MVP in my eyes," Zhai Xiaochuan, a rising star with the Ducks, said after the win over Liaoning in March. "I hope he can stay healthy and lead us to more records and miracles."

Many big-name NBA players have played in the CBA, including Stromile Swift and Tracy McGrady. Yet none have come close to reaching the heights achieved by Marbury. Chinese fans joke that there are two types of foreign players in the CBA - Stephon Marbury and the rest.

Faced with such adulation in China, Marbury remains outwardly humble, a contrast to how he came across during his infamous fallouts with Larry Brown and Isaiah Thomas back in his New York days.