elindholm
edited for content
Marion's lifestyle is anything but routine
Paul Coro
The Arizona Republic
May. 8, 2006 12:00 AM
It is not just that Shawn Marion can return to the air like a rubber ball off the hardwood.
It is that he would rather be watching a cartoon right now.
It is not just that he can guard post players with a small forward's body or shoot accurately with an awkward flick of his wrist.
It is that he gave $1 million to charity in 2002, likes Hamburger Helper and plays with remote-control cars.
Marion does not let anyone tell him what to be. He plays basketball and lives life by feel. His talent is unique as his personality.
The Suns went as Marion did in Round 1, starting slowly and finishing strongly to dispatch the Los Angeles Lakers. Marion averaged 18.1 points and 9.4 rebounds against the Lakers, with no board in his life bigger than the offensive rebound he grabbed to set up Tim Thomas' series-saving, game-tying shot at the end of regulation in Game 6. With long-armed lefty Lamar Odom in his rearview mirror, Marion has another sizable task starting tonight in the second round against the Los Angeles Clippers. He must cover All-Star power forward Elton Brand.
Only Marion, Brand, Kevin Garnett, and Yao Ming averaged 20 points and 10 rebounds in the regular season. Only Marion has finished a season twice in the NBA's top five for steals and blocks since steals became an official stat in 1974.
Marion received his first All-NBA due last season as a third-team pick, but this run, with Amaré Stoudemire out, has brought Marion a new level of respect - to an extent.
"If I'm averaging 20 and 10 and I'm 6-7 and 225, am I just supposed to do that?" Marion said late in the regular season as he lay on a hotel bed playing handheld electronic poker. "How the hell do I not get the same credit as Garnett and Tim Duncan and those guys? I'm 225, barely. Is this just what we've come to expect of Shawn?"
Marion sat up and put the game aside as he continued.
"It's frustrating because I've been doing this since I got here. I've been playing with Jason Kidd, Stephon Marbury and Steve Nash and been able to adjust my game to everyone."
Marion considers himself a Most Valuable Player candidate, but only one of 127 voters put him on the top-five ballot. Nash ran away with a repeat honor. It's often argued that the Suns are nothing without Nash and they survive Marion's rare misses (he played in 482 of 492 games in the past six seasons).
But Nash is the team's only true point guard, the only player who can operate the Suns' plan and, by default, is more indispensable than Marion.
Marion, though, presents immense difficulty for opposing defenses. Every rival coach seems to point it out. Nothing Marion does can be duplicated. A scout never watches a college game and jots down "Marion-like" anything.
"He does things you'll never be able to teach anyone to do, and he's good at things that you'd never want anybody to do," said David Griffin, Suns vice president for player personnel. "His shot isn't what you would teach someone, but it's effective. His handle is not what you'd teach someone, but it's effective. You don't teach kids his size how to play the four (power forward), but he's been effective. He's the rarest of athletes."
Paul Coro
The Arizona Republic
May. 8, 2006 12:00 AM
It is not just that Shawn Marion can return to the air like a rubber ball off the hardwood.
It is that he would rather be watching a cartoon right now.
It is not just that he can guard post players with a small forward's body or shoot accurately with an awkward flick of his wrist.
It is that he gave $1 million to charity in 2002, likes Hamburger Helper and plays with remote-control cars.
Marion does not let anyone tell him what to be. He plays basketball and lives life by feel. His talent is unique as his personality.
The Suns went as Marion did in Round 1, starting slowly and finishing strongly to dispatch the Los Angeles Lakers. Marion averaged 18.1 points and 9.4 rebounds against the Lakers, with no board in his life bigger than the offensive rebound he grabbed to set up Tim Thomas' series-saving, game-tying shot at the end of regulation in Game 6. With long-armed lefty Lamar Odom in his rearview mirror, Marion has another sizable task starting tonight in the second round against the Los Angeles Clippers. He must cover All-Star power forward Elton Brand.
Only Marion, Brand, Kevin Garnett, and Yao Ming averaged 20 points and 10 rebounds in the regular season. Only Marion has finished a season twice in the NBA's top five for steals and blocks since steals became an official stat in 1974.
Marion received his first All-NBA due last season as a third-team pick, but this run, with Amaré Stoudemire out, has brought Marion a new level of respect - to an extent.
"If I'm averaging 20 and 10 and I'm 6-7 and 225, am I just supposed to do that?" Marion said late in the regular season as he lay on a hotel bed playing handheld electronic poker. "How the hell do I not get the same credit as Garnett and Tim Duncan and those guys? I'm 225, barely. Is this just what we've come to expect of Shawn?"
Marion sat up and put the game aside as he continued.
"It's frustrating because I've been doing this since I got here. I've been playing with Jason Kidd, Stephon Marbury and Steve Nash and been able to adjust my game to everyone."
Marion considers himself a Most Valuable Player candidate, but only one of 127 voters put him on the top-five ballot. Nash ran away with a repeat honor. It's often argued that the Suns are nothing without Nash and they survive Marion's rare misses (he played in 482 of 492 games in the past six seasons).
But Nash is the team's only true point guard, the only player who can operate the Suns' plan and, by default, is more indispensable than Marion.
Marion, though, presents immense difficulty for opposing defenses. Every rival coach seems to point it out. Nothing Marion does can be duplicated. A scout never watches a college game and jots down "Marion-like" anything.
"He does things you'll never be able to teach anyone to do, and he's good at things that you'd never want anybody to do," said David Griffin, Suns vice president for player personnel. "His shot isn't what you would teach someone, but it's effective. His handle is not what you'd teach someone, but it's effective. You don't teach kids his size how to play the four (power forward), but he's been effective. He's the rarest of athletes."
