Not only is former NBA star Stephon Marbury staying on with his new basketball team in China, he's planning to open dozens of stores and a distribution company here for his brand, Starbury.

Under a proposed joint venture with the owner of his team, Starbury Corp. plans to manufacture, distribute and promote Starbury products in China -- specifically, shoes ranging from $14.88 to $48.88. Start-up funding will be used to open three stores by the end of this year in the city of Taiyuan, the hometown of Mr. Marbury's team, Shanxi Zhongyu.

The pending deal, if it goes through, would introduce a new way for Chinese teams to woo top talent from other countries to the Chinese Basketball Association, which caps salaries for foreign players at less than $60,000 a month -- far below the many millions high-profile National Basketball Association players make in the U.S. each year.

Other players have stepped up their efforts to cash in on China's love of basketball. Boston Celtics forward Kevin Garnett this month announced his endorsement of Chinese sportswear brand Anta Sports Products Ltd. and went on an eight-day tour of China to meet fans and promote the partnership. Kobe Bryant and Ron Artest of the Los Angeles Lakers, meanwhile, have made trips to China to meet fans. In 2007, Chinese sportswear company Li Ning Co. launched a line of basketball products for China featuring Shaquille O'Neal.

Mr. Marbury, who has played for teams including the Knicks and the Celtics, founded Starbury in 1996 and later sold products through retailer Steve & Barry's LLC until the clothing company filed for bankruptcy two years ago. Starbury has been primarily funded by Mr. Marbury himself, and is seeking to raise an additional $50 million to expand both overseas and inside the U.S., where it plans to relaunch its brand, distributing via standalone stores.

Under the plan -- which has yet to be signed -- Beijing RenHeshengye International Economics & Trading Co., the company that owns Mr. Marbury's team, will make an initialinvestment of 10 million yuan ($1.48 million) to establish a joint-venture company with Starbury, according to Gustavus Bass, the chief financial officer of Starbury.

RenHeshengye is expected to make additionalinvestments later.

If the deal moves forward, Mr. Bass says, Starbury will create a subsidiary that would hold a 51% stake in the new Chinese joint venture and would likely appoint Mr. Marbury as its chairman. Mr. Marbury, who arrived in China in January, last month said he had signed on to play two more seasons with Zhongyu with the option to play a third.

Mr. Bass, who estimates that China's athletic shoe market has reached $6 billion, has ambitions to open at least 100 more stores in China within five years.

'Working on a market that is so huge and so phenomenal ... could be unbelievable,' Mr. Marbury said.

While Mr. Marbury has fallen out of favor with many fans in the U.S. because of run-ins with his coaches and teammates, the player has been well-received in China. Taiyuan is a grimy coal-mining city but Mr. Marbury -- who stays in a luxury hotel and has access to translators and Western food -- said he enjoys it.

Taiyuan 'is amazing,' said Mr. Marbury, who was named most-valuable player in the China Basketball Association's all-star game. 'The people there, they showed me love . . . . They gave me a chance.'

Mr. Marbury has drawn large crowds at games and at one two-hour autograph signing, Mr. Marbury sold more than $30,000 in shoes.

Mr. Marbury, known as 'Ma Bu Li' to Chinese fans, has 'created a different business model and is setting the tone for the future,' said Bruce O'Neil, president of the U.S. Basketball Academy, which works with Chinese teams to recruit American players. China 'wasn't even in the picture' for top players used to making $15 million or $20 million a year because of the salary cap, he said, but now 'I'm getting calls from some high-profile players and agents.'

Loretta Chao

• distribution [,distri´bju:ʃən] n.分配；分布(状态) (初中英语单词)
• venture [´ventʃə] n.投机 v.冒险；敢于 (初中英语单词)
• distribute [di´stribju:t] vt.分配；分布；散播 (初中英语单词)
• promote [prə´məut] vt.促进；发扬；助长 (初中英语单词)
• talent [´tælənt] n.天才；才干；天资 (初中英语单词)
• meanwhile [´mi:n´wail] n.&ad.其间；同时 (初中英语单词)
• additional [ə´diʃənəl] a.附加的，额外的 (初中英语单词)
• international [,intə´næʃənəl] a.国际的，世界的 (初中英语单词)
• investment [in´vestmənt] n.投资；(时间等)投入 (初中英语单词)
• financial [fi´nænʃəl] a.金融的，财政的 (初中英语单词)
• appoint [ə´pɔint] vt.安排；委派；任命 (初中英语单词)
• player [´pleiə] n.游戏的人；选手 (初中英语单词)
• luxury [´lʌkʃəri] n.奢侈(品)；享受 (初中英语单词)
• western [´westən] a.西的；西方的 (初中英语单词)
• academy [ə´kædəmi] n.专科学校；学会；协会 (初中英语单词)
• partnership [´pɑ:tnəʃip] n.合伙关系 (高中英语单词)
• expand [ik´spænd] vt.张开；膨胀；扩大 (高中英语单词)
• initial [i´niʃəl] a.最初的 n.首字母 (高中英语单词)
• athletic [æθ´letik] a.运动的；强壮的 (高中英语单词)
• billion [´biljən] num.万亿 (高中英语单词)
• access [´ækses] n.接近；通路；进入 (高中英语单词)
• recruit [ri´kru:t] n.新兵 v.征募(新兵) (高中英语单词)
• bankruptcy [´bæŋkrʌptsi] n.破产 (英语四级单词)
• primarily [´praimərəli, prai´merəli] ad.首先；主要地 (英语四级单词)
• economics [i:kə´nɔmiks, i:,-] n.经济学 (英语四级单词)
• setting [´setiŋ] n.安装；排字；布景 (英语四级单词)
• pending [´pendiŋ] a.迫近的；悬而未决的 (英语六级单词)
• overseas [,əuvə´si:z] ad.(向)海外 a.海外的 (英语六级单词)