NBA star Stephon Marbury's "Starbury" basketball shoes are selling like hotcakes. Every kid wants a pair and, according to Friday night's 20/20 report,
it's not uncommon for a store to blow through two months' worth of
inventory in three days. Why are they so appealing? It's not just that
a famous basketball player has his name attached to them, it's also
because they cost $14.98.
Marbury, completely turned off by the
cult of $200 basketball shoes, took no upfront endorsement money.
Considering that LeBron James recently inked an endorsement deal with
Nike for $90 million, this is astonishing. Marbury gets paid if the
shoes sell. And sell they are. According to 20/20, Starbury's are no
different than the most expensive shoes on the market. The main
difference is that his shoes aren't made of leather. Marbury wears his
shoes for every NBA game saying, "Leather doesn't made you jump higher."
Marbury had enough of kids getting beat up or killed over shoes and
hearing stories of families sacrificing grocery money to buy shoes. He
says that growing up, $200 "plus coupons" would feed his family for the
month. His mother wonders why no one thought of doing this sooner.
At
a recent event, it was the mothers who approached Marbury to thank him
for making his shoes affordable, and cameras caught him as he was
overcome with emotion. He covered his face and let the tears flow. Go
on, Stephon! You're doing a good thing!
