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Marbury in Obama's court

ANTHONY RIEBER | anthony.rieber@newsday.com

October 29, 2008

Joe the Plumber ... meet Stephon the Basketball Player.

Knicks guard Stephon Marbury, who plans to vote for Sen. Barack Obama in Tuesday's presidential election, is putting his money where his mouth is - in more ways than one.

Marbury, who donated the individual maximum of $2,300 to Obama's campaign in June 2007, said he's not looking for a tax break from the next president, even though his 2008-09 salary of $20.8 million puts him in an income bracket the rest of us can only dream about.

In fact, Marbury told Newsday on Monday that he's more than willing to pay his share and even endorsed what he called Obama's plan to "spread the wealth."

"I think that it's going to help," Marbury said. "By him trying to create change and by him trying to spread the wealth as opposed to the rich getting rich and the poor staying poor, he's trying to make it diverse and I believe in that.

"I pay taxes just like everybody else - half of my money goes to taxes - and I feel like it should go to the people who need it. Me coming from where I come from, I'm aware of the situation that people are in right now, coming from Coney Island and the projects. Me having what I have is a blessing."

Joe the Plumber, you might remember, became the favorite "average American" of Sen. John McCain's camp when Obama told Joe, "I think when you spread the wealth around, it's good for everybody."

Joe the Plumber, aka Joe Wurzelbacher, made a campaign appearance for McCain in his home state of Ohio yesterday.

Stephon the Basketball Player is not going to be asked to campaign for anyone, not with his checkered history.

Not that he could. He's working right now. Expected to be a former Knick well before Election Day, Marbury will be with the team when it opens the season tonight against the Miami Heat. That might be a bigger upset than Truman beating Dewey in 1948.

Why, you might ask, would anyone care about Marbury's political views, or about those of any athlete? Well, LeBron James has stumped for Obama and Browns quarterback Brady Quinn recently made an appearance for McCain in the battleground state of Ohio. It could make a difference for some voters.

But that's not actually why I went to Knicks camp on Monday to talk to Marbury about the election. No, I gave Marbury the microphone because he's the only athlete among the New York elite (at least as judged by salary) who still has a horse in this race.

Of the 20 New York athletes who made or will make $10 million or more in salary in seasons that began in 2008, only two gave money to a presidential candidate, according to Federal Election Commission records:

Marbury and Alex Rodriguez.

A-Rod, who can't deliver in October, won't even be in the game in November. He donated $2,300 to Rudy Giuliani's failed campaign in March 2007.

Marbury, who has a better shot of being named Secretary of State than winning an NBA title with the Knicks, can at least be a very small part of a winning team on Election Day if the polls are to be believed.

"I'll be at the ballot at six o'clock in the morning if I have to," Stephon the Basketball Player said.