Stephon Marbury’s $14.98 gamble.

Old news for some, me, I just found this out a few weeks ago. Stephon Marbury came out with his own line of shoes last year called the Starbury. Big deal. What NBA baller doesn’t have their own shoe, right? Except these and every pair he now sells goes for $14.98, including his latest Starbury II. They weren’t promoted the usual way either. Just PR releases and word-of-mouth, (and now a website). They’re sold through one chain, Steve and Barry’s.

I like the move because when’s the last time an NBA player did something showing awareness of a social/economic problem relating to society at large, let alone their own merchandise affects the people who buy it? I have to think teens wearing them are far less likely to get shot for a pair of these than if they were wearing Air Jordans costing 10x. Almost as important is that kids without a lot of money can afford a better sneaker than the usual Wal-Mart/Payless knock-off brands:

“Nykee. They’re almost as good as the real thing.”

The flip side: the issue of sweatshop labor. They’re made in China, not exactly the bastion of the Happy-Happy Joy-Joy worker. But, to be fair, almost every product is made where there’s cheap labor. Still, I have to give him props for doing something with all his money and making an athletic shoe available to kids who may not much of their own. (Suburban mall-loitering wannabes will undoubtedly buy too, hoping to seek street cred–they always do.)

And I say gamble because many elite NBA players sign with a Reebok or Nike, put their name behind a product or clothing line, and sit back and rake it in. As long as they keep performing, we don’t think twice. However, as any Knicks fan will tell you this year, watching Stephon was definitely a crap shoot–you didn’t know who was going to show up from night to night. Will that rep spill over into both shoe sales and his perceived value, that’s the thing. (We trust the players who perform; they can sell us anything. Lose, and it’s see ya. To that end, Ben Wallace has also joined the effort with his own version.)

The other thing he likely has to consider is that at some point, he’ll need to reach a broader audience. One shoe store chain isn’t going to cut it. That means some form of traditional media. (They also currently run video segments on YouTube that lead to the site. Not a bad tactic, but a few TV spots could help get the word out even more.)

Tags: Starbury, Knicks, Stephon Marbury