When Stephon Marbury first arrived in China, he was already an NBA star carrying a complicated reputation. To Chen Yang, the job stretched from helping Marbury settle into daily life to fighting for better deals in the boardroom, all of them often within the same day. Some days he was helping Marbury navigate meals, cultural nuances, and living arrangements; other times, he was in closed-door meetings discussing contracts and endorsements.
On the court, his job was even more challenging. Coaches often pressed Marbury to focus on scoring: “We need you to carry the offense.” But Chen Yang understood that Marbury valued teamwork above all. So he tried to be the bridge, and after practice, he would go player by player, reinforcing unity while assuring coaches that Marbury would shoulder the pressure. “It wasn’t just about language,” he explains. “It was about making sure everyone felt understood.”
They went on to win three championships in four years, which is a marvelous contribution. “Marbury played through a broken toe one season, a torn meniscus the next. He never complained,” Chen says. “Most people didn’t even know he was hurt. Only I knew,” Chen Yang recalls quietly. “He didn’t want the media or even the team to know. He kept going, and we won anyway.”
Beyond the court, Chen Yang played a crucial role in shaping Marbury’s media presence in China. Through Douyin and Weibo, Marbury started talking directly to fans. In the popular sports drama Dunk of China, Chen Yang convinced producers to make Marbury a regular guest instead of flyer guest who only shows a few minutes. “I told them if we work on it, it has to be consistent. To Marbury, what mattered was his impact on the next generation of players,” Chen Yang explains. After just one trial episode, the producers called the next morning that they wanted him for the whole season.
Many years later, Chen Yang earned a strong reputation for his professionalism and management skills, eventually becoming the vice general manager of BEIJING ENTERPRISES GROUP. The challenge of rebuilding an entire basketball team in just one month, while flying from city to city with contract papers in one hand and unanswered calls piling up in the other. He flew to 17 cities, signed 14 players, and negotiated not only with athletes but also with their agents. Sometimes it meant waiting outside a player’s manager’s home for days to close a deal. “It was like mission impossible,” he laughs.
Reflecting on his management philosophy, he highlights three principles. “No matter how good the operations are, it’s the players on the court who win the game.” The players’ attitude is important, and how to boost their enthusiasm is the whole science behind it. “Next you need to deal with the relationship between the head coach and players.” Chen Yang added, Marbury was a NBA star player with very high standards, so when Chinese players struggled to meet Marbury’s expectations, he had to be the bridge between both sides, making sure effort and expectations aligned. The last and the most warm one is truly care for athletes’ well-being: “I always made sure their meals were taken care of. They worked so hard, and I had been with them long enough to know what they needed.” In the end, it all comes down to trust, Chen Yang believes the foundation of it all wasn’t strategy or contracts. “The most important thing is sincerity,” he says. “Looking back, every challenge, every long night that I prepared, it all built something lasting. The hard moments fade, but what we built together stays.”
