Godsta

Marbury's sneaker attack
is for real
By Scott Boeck, USA TODAY

NBA star Stephon Marbury says he is trying to change the sneaker industry by marketing a less-expensive basketball shoe.

The New York Knicks guard is leading a revolution, what he calls "the Starbury Movement," against high-priced sneaker brands that market to lower-income kids. Marbury, who grew up in the projects in New York City's Coney Island, teamed with Steve & Barry's, a national discount clothing store, and created his own signature sneaker — Starbury One — that sells for $14.98. His Starbury collection includes three other styles of sneakers and a line of urban apparel, most of which sells for less than $10 at more than 140 stores.

"This is a unique entry into the athletic-shoe industry," says Mike May, spokesman for the Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association. "One, it's low priced. Two, you have a high-profile athletic figure who is attached to it."

Marbury on $14.98 shoes: "This ain't no hoax"

BALTIMORE — Doloris Ellis thinks it's ridiculous basketball sneakers cost up to $175. So when she heard an NBA superstar created a high-performance shoe for a fraction of that cost, she got in line.

Ellis was one of hundreds who visited Baltimore's Eastpoint Mall to purchase Stephon Marbury's new signature sneaker — the Starbury One — for her two grandchildren.

The sneaker hit the shelves Aug. 17 and is selling for $14.98 at Steve & Barry's University Sportswear.

"This ain't no hoax," the New York Knicks point guard insists. "What we are doing is real."

Marbury, who earned $16.5 million and averaged 16.3 points last season, will wear his shoe when the Knicks open the season tonight at the Memphis Grizzlies. He injured his heel during the preseason but says it had nothing to do with the shoe, which he wore in the preseason. "Yes, I am wearing the shoe," he's said numerous times.

SPORTS SCOPE: Gotta be the shoes?

During the season Marbury will wear a pair of his sneakers that a student-athlete — chosen randomly in a national contest — picks up at a Steve & Barry's store on game day, says Erin Patton, the principal of The Mastermind Group, the marketing agency behind the Starbury Collection.

The two-time All-Star says the Starbury One has the same quality leather and construction as other signature shoes. "If (critics) don't believe it, they can take the shoe and go test it themselves," he says.

His shoe is made in China like most major brands. Rocketfish, a firm founded by ex-Nike designers, developed the high-performance sneaker. "Seeing is believing," says Patton, former director of the Jordan Brand. "It's an NBA-quality shoe. Anyone who looks at it can tell that the material, the composition of the shoe, is just the same as any other performance hoop shoe."

Skeptics aren't so sure.

"No, it's not going to be as good a shoe as an $80 shoe," says John Horan, publisher of Sporting Goods Intelligence.

Figures of how many Starburys have been sold have not been released, but consumers such as Ellis waited in lines for a pair during Marbury's 17-day, 34-store promotional trek.

"It's making it priceable for a family, people with more than one child," Ellis says. "I hope these catch on."

Marbury didn't sign an endorsement deal. Instead, he receives a commission from every Starbury item sold. "I am a trailblazer," he says. "I'm willing to do the things that others wouldn't do."