"In Coney Island, Marbury Has Message but No News"
"At the opening of his annual basketball tournament in Coney Island, Knicks point guard Stephon Marbury pledged yesterday to build ''a new movement'' to help children move out of poverty -- and out of Coney Island.
Marbury, surrounded by a couple of dozen children, spoke of self-reliance and job creation and invoked the names of Oprah Winfrey, Jay-Z and Sean Combs.
Marbury grew up in the neighborhood's Surfside Gardens projects. His tournament, now in its 11th year, is held in honor of Jason Sowell, a high school teammate known as Juice who was shot and killed nearby in 1995.
''My message to the kids of Coney Island is: 'Don't want to live here. Don't want to be in Coney Island all your life,' '' Marbury said. ''And if somebody tells you different, don't deal with them people, because they want you to stay here. So what I'm doing is trying to give kids hope, and allow them to understand that with hard work and dedication, preparation, all of those different things, they'll be able to succeed.''
Marbury spoke of creating jobs and other avenues out of poverty. He said he would pay barbers in his former neighborhood to give residents free haircuts.
He also said he would sponsor a line of low-cost sports apparel, to be marketed and sold by the Steve and Barry's chain, which has a location in Manhattan.
''The sneaker's going to be $14.98, the same exact shoe that you can go and spend $220 for,'' Marbury said. ''What we're trying to do is allow kids to understand that we can still have the fly stuff, and we don't got to pay a whole bunch of money. The way how this world is right now, we need more people like me.''
Marbury declined to talk about the Knicks -- he chastised a reporter who asked about the team -- but did mention Coach Larry Brown, who is expected to be fired soon. Brown and Marbury openly clashed throughout the season.
Marbury called the past year ''the best year of my life,'' explaining that ''my mind was trapped, and now my mind is free.'' When asked what opened him up, Marbury said, ''Larry Brown.''
''I love Larry Brown, period,'' he said. ''I was tested. But that's all it was, was a test. I passed the test. I'm moving on to the next phase.''
Marbury told reporters he would answer questions about the Knicks during a conference call today. A team spokesman later said that no call was planned.
PRO BASKETBALL"