Among the 37 hosts of a high-priced fundraiser for Sen. Barack Obama in Chapel Hill this month, one name stands out.
Alongside a number of local business executives, major Democratic donors and Durham jazz musician Branford Marsalis, there appears the name of one Stephon Marbury.
Marbury is a point guard for the New York Knicks, a native of Brooklyn, the subject of a great basketball book, an occasional shoe endorser and a friend of rapper Ja Rule, among other things. He is not, however, a political donor, according to campaign finance records.
So why is he on the host list of a Chapel Hill fundraiser?
The answer, after the jump.
—————
The credit goes to Kenneth Lewis, a corporate and securities attorney with Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice's Research Triangle Park office.
Lewis, 45, of Durham, knows Marbury through business — he declined to elaborate — and he suggested that the basketball player sign up.
"I told him about it, and he was interested in being involved," he said.
It's not clear yet if Marbury will actually attend the event, which will be held on June 14. Lewis says he doesn't know, stressing that the two are only acquaintances.
"I've never seen him play except on television," he said.
