It's that time of year when all the new basketball shoes have come out or are about to come out. I don't know the shoe release dates, because I've got a scrotum, which allows me to resist screaming like a teenage girl when the lime green and orange Retro Jordan IV's come out. I'm ashamed that I even know what the hell I just said.
But last year around this time, Stephon Marbury introduced his "Starbury" line of shoes and gear, centering it around the fact that it was affordable stuff, endorsed by an actual basketball player. Usually, when something like this has happened, it's either endorsed by a player that has no fans outside of his home city (Patrick Ewing) or a player or the shoes were so ugly that they offended people (Hakeem Olajuwon).
Marbury's line of products were actually the kind of product that wouldn't compel to spit in your grandmother's lemonade after she gave them to you for Christmas. They're actually a nice line of shoes, and he plays in them every night. They only cost $15 bucks a pair, so now people can stop selling kidneys for basketball shoes that will make the teasing stop.
This season, Ben Wallace of my Beloved Bulls (it's like "A Pimp Named Slickback;" you say the whole thing), has signed up to endorse shoes of his own, "The Big Ben Collection."
I know many people have done this last year, and I might have done it, too, but I can't remember back that far. I don't even have a weed habit to blame it all on, but I'd like to thank Stephon Marbury for putting out this line of shoes and Ben Wallace of my Beloved Bulls (that's gonna make my hand cramp up at some point) for joining the cause.
As many (or 4) people know, I am no fan of Stephon Marbury. I think he's a ballhog and was never that good of a point guard to begin with. And I continue to hold against him the fact that Penny Hardaway's career never took the upswing I predicted it would. But there's no denying he's done a good thing with this.
I'll be damned if I buy a still growing kid a pair of shoes that cost more than $100. And when they get to the point where they're not growing anymore, they can get a job and buy their own shit. However, with the Starbury line (as well as the Big Ben Collection), kids don't need to eat things found on the cafeteria floor for money to be cool anymore. The shoes don't fall apart when they get wet, and they don't look like Hakeem Olajuwon's shoe. I don't see why anyone wouldn't buy them after hearing that last part. Plus, you can buy them and have money left to go to Cinnabon.
I just hope that more players decide to sign on with Starbury on start similar companies. I know Shaq sells shoes at Wal-Mart, but there's a reason why his shoes are sold at Wal-Mart. I don't even think HE wears his own shoes. This idea would have caught on a lot faster if someone like LeBron James or Dwyane Wade had gotten behind it. Instead, we've got LeBron making comments like this, when asked if HE might one day endorse a low-priced shoe:
“No, I don’t think so,” James said. “Me being with Nike, we hold our standards high.”
Almost as high as their prices. Those stock options and quarterly bonuses aren't going to pay themselves. Go Starbury...just not on the court.
The line of shoes and clothes can be found exclusively at Steve and Barry's...which we don't have in Atlanta...and they don't sell merchandise on the website. The struggle continues...
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