Photo: a screenshot of Marbury's instagram

Former NBA star Stephon Marbury on Monday denied being a pedophile after he posted a photo on Instagram showing a naked boy on the bed with a glittering basketball.

Marbury posted the photo on his Instagram account on Saturday and was strongly criticized by netizens, who accused him of being a pedophile and claimed they felt uncomfortable with the photo.

"What do you mean by posting a naked sleeping boy on the internet? This is super weird," said one.

Marbury responded on his Sina Weibo account, saying, "It's sad that people would use their imagination in this way. Hurt people always try to hurt people. I'm happy this is my nephew and I've been taking care of him since he was born. Yesterday was amazing and today is even better. The only truth to a rumor is I heard."

He added, "Sadly we had to defend ourselves against people who tried to assassinate my character because I teach little kids basketball. I feel bad for the people who tried to create this negative energy on earth for people to talk. I will pray for your heart to un-harden from your wicked ways."

Amid public demand to delete the photo, Marbury continued to display the photo and post on Instagram, which has been liked more than 600 times as of press time.

The post also had its supporters. One of them said, "Anyone who feels negative toward this photo has something seriously wrong with themselves … The first thing I thought when I saw this photo was the little dude has big dreams, he is obviously inspired."

Marbury rocketed to fame in China after leading the Beijing Ducks to three Chinese Basketball Association championships.