By Jeramie McPeek
Posted: July 27, 2001
Stephon Marbury never dreamed of this.
Growing up in Brooklyn, NY, he always envisioned himself as an NBA player one day. While hooping on the local playgrounds, he would do his best All-Star imitations, breaking down his opponents and driving the lane for the quick score.
While playing the video game
Double Dribble on his Nintendo, he would often pretend he was the tiny figure he was directing up court and over to the corner, where he rained three-pointers.
"That was money," he laughed.
But Stephon never imagined he would actually be in a video game someday. That kids like himself around the country would be steering a tiny Marbury figure -- complete with his jersey number and name, facial features, and bag of patented tricks -- up the court, through the lanes and out beyond the three-point arc.
"It's an honor," Marbury said last week after having his moves motion-captured for the upcoming 989 Sports title,
NBA ShootOut 2002. "Very exciting. Whenever somebody plays the game and I'm right there, I'm going to be like, 'Yeah, you're playing me.'"
The Sony PlayStation game, which will also feature the Suns' playmaker on its cover, is the latest edition in the popular
ShootOut series. Ironically, the 2000 version starred former Suns guard Jason Kidd, who was traded to New Jersey in the deal that brought Marbury to Phoenix earlier this summer.
But the newest incarnation of the basketball game will be unlike any of its predecessors. The 2002 title will include summer leagues -- compete with the Suns in the Rocky Mountain Revue -- and the new National Basketball Developmental League. If you're not playing well, you might get sent down to Columbus, Ashville or Roanoke to polish your game in some of the country's smaller arenas.
And then there are the ever-improving graphics and more realistic play, which Marbury helped bring to life inside the cavernous studio at Sony Entertainment headquarters in San Diego, Calif.
The full-day project began in wardrobe, a small corner of the dark room with a divider wall for privacy, where Stephon was suited up in full mo-cap gear: black football pants, long-sleeve black T-shirt, black gloves, elbow pads and a baseball cap, minus the brim. Oh, and then there are several dozen "retro reflective markers" attached to his body (picture gumballs wrapped in aluminum foil), which will allow his moves to be captured and recreated in 3D.
"The motion capture process is critical to us," said senior producer C.J. Connoy. "What we do is take a top flight athlete and suit them up in this funky kind of outfit with sensors. All over the room are like 15 different cameras and these cameras record every single movement the player makes while he's in the motion-capture zone. Those motions are fed directly into a computer, processed, given to our computer graphic artists, and those artists process them specifically for our video game.
"It's an incredible process, especially with the PlayStation 2. It's become so realistic."
The process in creating realism started with a number of full-speed sprints across the concrete floor, and then several more while dribbling the ball, all under the watchful eyes of cardboard Han Solo and Boba Fett cutouts positioned in opposite corners of the room.
"I didn't know I was going to be running this early," Marbury said with a smile and a deep breath.
Next came the ball handling: with his right hand, then left hand, between the legs, around the back, the crossover, the crossover and dribble, the "dribble, crossover and then dribble again."
One by one, the playmaker performed a variety of basketball talents, as outlined by the game's producers, including layups, reverse layups, finger rolls, set shots and fade-away jumpers on a regulation hoop rolled out onto the makeshift court. And then there was opportunity to show off some of his more unique "Starbury" skills. Skills, he says, that you will have to get the game in order to see.
"It was a lot of fun. I think the most exciting thing about it was watching me on the replay," he said of his wire frame running around on the various monitors hanging from the ceiling. "It kind of looks like a person on sticks. Like a little skeleton with just bones out there."
Of course, when the game is finished, the All-Star skeleton will be covered with cyber skin and cyber uniforms to look like all of your favorite NBA players. And even a few on your least favorite list.
"Stephon's moves will be used for all the guards in general," explained Connoy. "So if you choose someone who's roughly 6-6 or shorter and you have them at either one of the guard positions, they will be using Stephon's moves. Even the Kobe Bryants and the Allen Iversons of the world will be using Stephon Marbury's moves in the game."
Don't worry, gamers. Not every player 6-6 and under will be built like Marbury, or play at his level. You won't see Muggsy Bogues measuring up to Stephon, or Fred Hoiberg scoring 20-plus a night (Nothing personal, Fred).
"Looking at a player, if he's got green eyes in real life, he's got green eyes in the game," said Connoy. "If he's got a goatee in real life, he's got one in the game. We've got an infinite number of hairstyles. If a player's got wristbands and a knee sleeve, or short socks and long shorts, that will be in the game.
"We'll have the correct player attributes. Stephon can dunk. He's not especially tall, but he can dunk, so that'll be in the game. There are other guys, like maybe a Tyron Lue -- he's a couple inches shorter than Stephon -- who cannot dunk that well in the game, because that's not his attributes. But Stephon will be able to."
While the game will feature Marbury's basketball moves throughout, it will also feature his dance moves in a hip-hop themed introduction. Following the motion-capture session, the 24-year-old changed into his new Suns uniform and was left alone with a video camera to record his groove.
Don't be surprised if a well-known celebrity pops up for a little fun with Stephon during the opening video, too. Those plans are still in the early stages, though, and we're sworn to secrecy. All will be revealed when the game is released in late November, just in time for the holidays.
As you can imagine, Marbury can't wait.
"I'll probably play Phoenix against another team," he said with wide eyes, thinking of the possibilities, "probably New Jersey. I'll use J-Kidd against me."
And what will be the first play you run, Stephon?
"First thing I do is I crawl all the way up the court, then I come down and throw some shake and bake, then I wrap it around my back, then I back up and I shoot the trey."
