Ex-NBA star Marion wants to win Amazing Race
In 16 seasons as a professional basketball player, Shawn Marion earned a championship ring with the Dallas Mavericks, a bronze medal at the Olympics in Greece and millions of dollars.
Now the four-time all-star sets his sights on winning “The Amazing Race.”
Marion, 39, teamed up with fellow retired National Basketball Association star Cedric Ceballos, 48, to compete on Season 30 of the CBS series, which was to première at 7 p.m. Wednesday.
Eleven pairs undergo a series of challenges — some mental and some physical — as they trek around the world for a chance to win $1 million.
“I thought it was a once-in-alifetime opportunity for me, and I was like, why not? Why not go for it?” said Marion, who has a home in Chicago.
“This is one of the shows that you really got to want to do. People love watching it, but to do it? It was more challenging than people think.”
Marion retired from the NBA in 2015.
He did some training for the competition, including rock climbing, but said it was difficult to prepare for the unknown.
While many of the other teams are composed of friends and couples, Marion and Ceballos were never professional teammates. They both played for the Mavericks, Miami Heat and Phoenix Suns, but at different times.
“We had a couple miscues here and there, but that’s part of it. When you’re teammates, you’re not going to agree on everything,” Marion said. He said one of the challenges of taping the show was leaving his three-year-old son. He and his ex spent years in Cook County court trying to work out parenting time and child support. If Marion wins the prize money, he plans to donate it to hurricane relief.
He also didn’t rule out participating in reality TV competitions in the future since being on “The Amazing Race” was a life-changing experience. “It’s some stuff that you would think you could never do. It put lots of things in perspective and it made me go back to thinking about how I grew up.”