Shining Sun

Victoria Sun

Wednesday, Feb. 14, 2001 | 10:54 a.m.

Born: May 7, 1978

Age: 22

High school: Clarksville High School, Clarksville, Tenn. First team all-state, averaged 26.4 points and 13.1 rebounds as a senior.

Junior college: Vincennes University, Vincennes, Ind. 1998 NJCAA David Row lands Male Student Athlete of the Year, two-time NJCAA all-tournament team, fir st team All-America selection as a sophomore.

College: UNLV (1998-99). Marion started 28 of 29 games for the Rebels. He led the team in scoring (18.7 points per game) and rebounding (9.3).

NBA: Drafted first round, ninth overall, by Phoenix Suns in 1999.

Did you know? Marion was so thrilled with his latest purchase, a George Foreman Grill, that he wants to take some culinary arts classes so he can lear n how to cook. He also has a collection of sports memorabilia that includes ite ms signed by his favorite player, Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Randy Moss.

PHOENIX -- The first time former UNLV forward Shawn Marion took flight and dunked a basketball, he was 15.

During an AAU practice in Clarksville, Tenn., the summer after his freshman year at Clarksville High School, several teammates urged him to attempt a dunk with one hand.

And thus "The Matrix" was born.

"I guess I always had (leaping ability)," the second-year Phoenix Suns forward said recently between bites of teriyaki chicken during an interview over lunch. "I just didn't know how to use (my hops).

"After I started dunking one-handed, I started doing it two-handed. I didn't know how high I was. I was so scared I was going to hit my hand on that rim or something.

"I was just doing it crazy, then all of the sudden they just started telling me which way to do stuff. I just started doing all kinds of stuff. It was cool."

Some of Marion's moves are so cool that former NBA guard and current TNT analyst Kenny Smith dubbed him "The Matrix," because of the way his acrobatic moves on the court resemble those of Keanu Reeves' character Neo in the science fiction thriller.

This season, Marion has started all 49 games for the 29-20 Suns.

In Tuesday night's 93-83 victory over Golden State, Marion recorded a career-high 28 points and added 13 rebounds.

He leads the team with 11.1 rebounds per game and is third in scoring with 15.5 points per outing. Marion ranks seventh in the NBA in rebounding, 17th in steals with 1.61 and sixth with 28 double-doubles.

Had he continued playing like he did in November when he averaged 19.2 points, 12.9 rebounds, two blocks and 1.85 steals, Marion probably would have been chosen to represent the Western Conference in Sunday's All-Star game.

But his totals plummeted in December when he averaged 11.6 points, 9.2 rebounds and .93 blocks. Though Marion upped his scoring and rebounding (16.1 points and 10.8 rebounds) in January despite a bum right knee, it wasn't enough.

He wound up playing in the Schick Rookie Challenge, pitting the 2000 rookies against the 1999 rookies. Marion scored 18 points for the victorious sophomores.

"He has areas of his game that he needs to work on and if he continues to do that, he'll get better and he'll continue to put up good numbers," Phoenix coach Scott Skiles said after a Suns practice. "He has the potential to be a very good player -- an all-star caliber type of player at some point.

"I think the sky is the limit. He can be as good as he wants to be. It depends on how hard he wants to work."

So far, so good.

Sitting at a corner table at Yoshi's, one of Marion's favorite places to get a pre-game meal in downtown Phoenix, he was candid, pleasant and accommodating when discussing everything from his short but already celebrated NBA career to his brand new George Foreman grill.

Never mind that the Suns had just completed a six-game road trip and Marion would have rather been asleep in the bed of his rented house (he's still looking to buy a new place). The All-Star in waiting fielded questions with the same grace he uses to interact with fans.

Marion showed signs of his affable nature when he returned to UNLV in 1999 for a preseason exhibition game against the Los Angeles Lakers at the Thomas & Mack Center.

There were more signs on this day.

As Marion drove out of America West Arena in a Cadillac Escolade, he was stopped by three chatty fans. Marion stopped to talk with the men and even signed a stack of photos which probably were going to be sold later.

"I ain't trippin,' " Marion said of the potential lost profit that would have incensed other athletes. "If he wants to sell it, why not?

"It may be helping him out."

Later, he smiled and posed for pictures to be hung on a collage at Yoshi's featuring Suns players and autographed more photos.

"It's real cool," Marion said of being idolized. "It's like you grew up doing that stuff and now you got people doing that stuff to you.

"So it makes you feel real good. You're being admired. People respect you and they like you a lot. It's a feeling you can't explain."

Marion's demeanor is what impresses Skiles the most.

"He's a really nice kid," Skiles said. "He's not a troublemaker.

"He's coachable. He tries to be conscientious about his job and what he's doing. A lot of the young players aren't like that now."

But as a youngster, Marion didn't dominate the court while Division I coaches sat on the sidelines salivating over his every move.

In fact, he never envisioned the day he might -- not would-- make it to the NBA until he was a sophomore at Vincennes University junior college in Indiana.

"I didn't imagine (anything)," Marion said matter-of-factly. "Some people know when they're young, a lot of people know they're going to the league.

"I didn't know that. I was a high school All-American in my state and stuff, but I wasn't nationally known. Everybody gets a certificate saying you're a McDonald's All-American. But I didn't play in the game, nothing like that. I was an underrated player."

That isn't the case any more.

A clerk at the Suns' team store inside America West Arena said replicas of Marion's jersey are a top seller.

Before the Suns hosted the Vancouver Grizzlies, a boy in the store wanted his father to buy one for him, but the only one in his size was a Cliff Robinson jersey. The boy was utterly disappointed.

"Oh, everyone knows about Shawn," teammate Mario Elie said with a wide grin. "When my boys call me from New York, it's always, 'Yo, did you see that dunk Shawn did last night?'

"I remember against the L.A. Clippers, Jason (Kidd) threw him a halfcourt alley-oop pass on top of the box. I'm like 'He ain't gonna get it.' He gets it and throws a little mustard on it. This guy is an amazing talent."

There are times Elie thinks Marion doesn't even realize what a special player he could become.

"He's got so much skills, but he's still young," Elie qualified. "A lot of stuff I feel he doesn't really know that he has.

"Sometimes he shows flashes. I told him to be a great player, not just a good player, in this league you've got to come to play every night."

In the movie "Matrix," Neo was able to run faster, jump higher and run longer than everyone else because his mind was able to see beyond the limitations of what the rest of the world perceived to be reality.

Shawn Marion as The Matrix tries not to think about the lofty expectations placed on his 6-7 frame.

But like Neo, Marion refuses to put a ceiling on what he can accomplish.

"I'm going to let myself get better," he said. "I want to get better at everything I do.

"I want all that. All-Star, All-Star MVP. An NBA championship. NBA MVP. All that stuff. It's out there to be taken. Why not shoot for it?"

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