Starbury

When I was in high school I loved Shawn Kemp for his basketball skills and for his commitment to only endorse snakers that were under $100. Then I loved Shaq for his bball skills and for his commitment to offer Starter brand (a subsidery of Nike) kicks for under $30 at Payless. Now, I have fallen in love again. This time it is with Stephon Marbury. While I still struggle to understand his move out of Minnesota where he was teamed with KG21 (other than the snow), Starbury has now put out a line of shoes and clothing that are all priced at a little under $15. Stephon does not have to be doing this - he could have a big old shoe deal (of course, he may need to get out of the Knicks locker room to make that a reality...lol). Here's his quote:

“It costs less than $14.98 to make a $150 shoe. That’s not what people are being told. We are allowing kids to become more edu­cated. Through this world of trying to live an exclusive life, kids are being lost in translation. Kids are not allowing themselves to see the big picture. And the bib picture is not having a $200 pair of sneakers when your mother’s income is $15,000 to $20,000.”

I've looked, but I can't seem to be able to purchase them online. Looks like a trip to a washington mall is in order...

I hope that his shoe line does fabulous and becomes a move that forces the big three (nike, reebok, addidas) to acknowledge the cause and effect relationship that they are a part of that is detremental (sp?) to youth culture.

ps. as a side note, I wonder what a guy like Shane Claiborne does with something like this. Surely these shoes were made with cheap labour, but does making them affordable for the poor carry some weight?