New York Knicks point guard, Stephon Marbury, self-proclaimed best
point guard in the world, has gotten it very wrong, with
these new $14.98 Starbury 1's. They're the very shoes he says he will
wear this season, but they're so sensational, really, the mistake was
hooking up with Steve & Barry's clothing chain. If he's gone with
Old Navy, these things would be massive.
Steve & Barry's is not nearly so ubiquitous. I had to drive for an hour to the Block in Orange County to find my nearest retailer. But boy was it worth it.
As I write, I think they've sold something approaching three quarters of a
million items from the Starbury line. There are the signature shoes,
pictured above, at $14.98. These come in black or white with a variety
of colored trim. If you want your BB shoes to make a loud remark,
these are in no way less out there than the new D.Wade's from Nike that
somehow remind me of those old fashioned metal toe cap boots. There is
a second pair of Starbury hi-tops at $9.98 and a variety of low tops.
There's clothing too, and nothing costs more than $14.98, many items
are so much less, at some point, it's like this isn't even money any
more.
I had
some house guests from the UK who were just stocking up on footwear
when visiting here, and I think they took away about 5 pairs between
them. This on top of the D.Wade's, Kevin Garnett's and a countless
other Nike, Puma, Adidas and k-Swiss, each costing 5-10 times as much
that they'd already had to freight home.
I saw Wade's Miami Heat recently and it was kind of mortifying to see
that their guard Jason Williams was wearing Wade's shoes. Williams.
He's been shameless since he came into the NBA. But it's good to see
Wade's largesse, sharing his shoes with a team mate. Meanwhile, Stephon
Marbury kitted out 162 New York kids teams with Starbury 1's. That's
3000 pairs. Marbury's credo is, he's doin' for the kids. It was tough,
he recalls, to afford cool kicks when he was a kid. It's as exciting
and innovative as any move I've seen him do on the courts, and while
Nike's air hasn't been deflated by this, it does seem that an
affordable basketball shoe is something many in the basketball business
would rather not talk about.
Can't wait to see him Stephon the All-Star game in the Starbury 1's.
Check the website out here: Starbury.com