This is so ridiculous!


I can't wait until he retires for good!


This takes the place of solving world hunger IMO!

MARBURY TEAMS UP WITH OPRAH
By MARC BERMAN

May 17, 2007 -- What do Stephon Marbury and Sarah Jessica Parker have in common? They both will appear on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" tomorrow.
In the largest coup in Marbury's attempt to spread the word on his $14.98 discount Starbury sneakers, the Knicks point guard will tape a 12-minute segment with Winfrey today in her Chicago studios.

The show will be broadcast locally tomorrow at 4 p.m. on WABC (Ch. 7). The last current NBA player to appear on the show was Kevin Garnett a year ago.
"I'm really excited," Marbury told The Post. "Last summer at my basketball tournament, I said I wanted to change up the world, and people thought I was crazy.

"To team up with people like Oprah and be in the presence of her; her voice speaks to a tremendous amount of worlds, the way she's perceived. Being able to do her show, we'll be able to convey to the whole country the message we're trying to convey."

Ironically, Marbury will compete against himself tomorrow, as his Oprah appearance goes directly against his own 4:30 p.m. talk show, "Stars on Stars," which features NFL legend Jim Brown as guest. Since the Knicks' season ended, Marbury has taped shows with Brown, Randy Moss and Marshall Faulk.

According to an industry source, Marbury's contract with Steve & Barry's, which exclusively sells Starbury sneakers, expires in two years. Marbury's sneakers will become a free agent with a source saying the plan is then to go global.
"It's beneficial for everybody, from the top of the pyramid to the bottom," Marbury said.

While in Chicago, Marbury plans to check in on teammate Eddy Curry, whom he lobbied for All-NBA center honors. Curry received two votes.
"I think he should have been third team," Marbury said. "It's the politics of the NBA."

Marbury arguably had his best all-around season despite the Knicks missing the playoffs, folding down the stretch and finishing 33-49. Marbury, who missed the last seven games with turf toe that still hasn't healed 100 percent, has watched most of the playoff games.

"It's very tough," Marbury said. "The worst thing to happen to us was not making the playoffs. The best thing to happen to us was not making the playoffs because it allowed us to see if we could stick together as a team and we did."

He needs to hire a speech therapist.

His sneakers wouldn't be that cheap if he got one

Too bad he couldn't create some "movement" on the court.

I could def understand the hate for Marbury on the court, but what I cant understand is the hate he gets for this...MAKES NO SENSE TO ME, more people, particularly NBA players, should be doing things like this

Posted by NYK3:

I could def understand the hate for Marbury on the court, but what I cant understand is the hate he gets for this...MAKES NO SENSE TO ME, more people, particularly NBA players, should be doing things like this

Coming from Marbury is just seems not to be very genuine.

ITs a nice idea, but since when does selling the Marbury brand change the world?

Generally people flock ot winners to buy stuff from.

I guess winning players have endorsment deals already so Marbs picked it up.

Its a hell of an idea. Marbury is a top paid professional and if you in the NBA for 10 years, and have a crazy max contract, then you are not doubt a successful human being. No doubt.

If your a 10 year vet, with a max contract and the all time leading scorer to have never advanced past the first round of the playoffs, then your a failed superstar. Still a superstar I guess, but one that has not lived up to their ability.

A self brooding selfish player who has a history of dividing his teams and not being coachable is not the first choice in my mind to endorse a sneaker and sell as succesful image.

Im glad he is doing it, and he aint a bad guy. The only basis for Marbury and his wealth is as a basketball plyaer, and as a member of my team, he has not succeeded!

Posted by BlueSeats:

Posted by NYK3:

I could def understand the hate for Marbury on the court, but what I cant understand is the hate he gets for this...MAKES NO SENSE TO ME, more people, particularly NBA players, should be doing things like this

It's just that it's being trumpeted as a charitable endeavor when it's not. he and Steve & Barry's are making money from it. Steve & Barry's were in this business for years before the brought Marbury in and the Starburys are the most expensive items in Steve & Barry's, so they'd be more "charitable" without him.

Let's imagine Marbury takes $1 from every article sold (BTW, Starburys is a line that includes sweatshirts and jackets too) and they sell 20 million articles per year. That's a lot of charity going in Steph's pocket, and he gets to come off looking like a philanthropist in the process.

It's almost as good a racket as making 20M per year from the Knicks and considering it a hobby.

Charity looks like a great business to be in, and basketball is a very profitable hobby.

Meanwhile, looks like we can expect him chubby and out of breath to start the season again.

Exactly, that's why it's garbage.

Posted by NYK3:

I could def understand the hate for Marbury on the court, but what I cant understand is the hate he gets for this...MAKES NO SENSE TO ME, more people, particularly NBA players, should be doing things like this

Because there are people who, no matter what Marbury does, will hate anything he does, just because they hate him. He could be donating a kidney to someone in need and those that hate him will find a way to but a negative spin on it. That's how haters operate.

I doubt, if lets say, David Lee (a fan favorite) would get the same reaction if he were the one with the inexpensive sneakers.


I don't particulary care for Marbury either...but hating on his sneaker venture is far-fetched to me. The most emotion he gets out of me for off the court antics is...that's nice but who cares.

Posted by playa2:
Funny how you will give props to nba guys from africa and crush the guy from america. hmmm This ties into my off-topic thread how americans think more highly of african immigrants than african americans.

THIS IS FOR THE STRUGGLE

There's probably some truth to this but it's not exclusive to America. for instance the French are much more kindly to American blacks, like sports figures and jazz musicians, then they are to Africans from the colonies.

Some speculate this is a remnant of colonialism where the occupiers marginalize those they occupied to justify the abuse.

It might also suggest it's not so much about race as struggles of class and culture.

Posted by playa2:

Posted by TrueBlue:

Posted by Nalod:

"It's very tough," Marbury said. "The worst thing to happen to us was not making the playoffs. The best thing to happen to us was not making the playoffs because it allowed us to see if we could stick together as a team and we did."

Marbs is changing the world. IT shows the american spirit that a super talent who gets paid ungodly sums of money can still underachieve.

Starbury going global? I suppose his legacy might not continue when his contract expires. It ain't like he is "chuck Taylor" now is he? Or his he? What did Chuck Taylor ever do to warrent his shoe?

Starbury is not changing the world, Steve and Barry are!

That's only if Steve and Barry go Global otherwise the Starburies are free agents to the highest bidder that takes them global, I'd assume. Seriously why not use your resources to feed the hungry, shelter the homeless, build a F'N hospital like Deke Motumbo? Why isn't Motumbo on Oprah or Hakeem Olajuwon who have done more for humanity than Marbury could ever think of doing. There are already lower economical shoes out there that lower income families can take advantage of. I just don't understand this. Is Marbury trying to become Wal-Mart or something?

[Edited by - TrueBlue on 05-17-2007 10:18 AM]

Mutumbo and Hakeem weren't born and raised in these americas stephon marbury was. Give him his props.

Funny how you will give props to nba guys from africa and crush the guy from america. hmmm This ties into my off-topic thread how americans think more highly of african immigrants than african americans.

THIS IS FOR THE STRUGGLE


[Edited by - playa2 on 17-05-2007 12:52]

Hmmmmm let's see put up $4-5mil(probably will be more when it's all said and done) of your own money and then have a partner(Hakeem) help endorse the project by putting up a couple $100,000 of his own to save human lives vs someone(Marbury) finding a supplier and distributor to provide a low cost product while profiting heavily at the same time finding an endorser(Ben Wallace) to help create another line to sell more of the product while he gets paid so kids in the ghetto/poorer communities can have a couple extra pair of shoes in their closet. I don't care that some think Deke is only taking care of his own, well his own is in the greatest need and he isn't running it as a profitable business. I would have more respect for Marbury if he did this on a donation basis. Put up his money with all product paid for and encourage buyers to donate and accept whatever they chose to give.

[Edited by - TrueBlue on 05-17-2007 1:32 PM]

Posted by tomverve:

The amount of money Marbury may be making off of it is irrelevant to the question of whether the shoe line is doing social good. Maybe the amount of money he's netting makes a difference to whether you want to call him a philanthropist or whether you call the whole process a charity. If you have a problem with using those terms I think you have a valid point. But even if you think Marbury is just a tycoon in this whole game, I don't think it changes the reasonable idea that the cheap sneakers are having some positive effects for poorer kids. Why some folks want to go so far out of their way all the time to make sure nothing positive is ever associated with Marbury is beyond me.

This "quoting" feature on UK is a favorite (though some of you all really need to work on reducing them so you aren't scrolling through 28 repeated posts) so I thought I would actually use it to quote something worthwhile. An all too rare occurrence here. So, see above.

Entering an industry where positive image is so closely tied to sticker-price and turning that on its ear takes balls. There were no guarantees that it was a business plan that would work. So how does the fact that it is working become yet another opportunity to bash Steph? Compared to the days when kids were getting killed for their $150 Jordan's?

I don't know who is calling Marbury a Philanthropist, but providing a well-designed quality product to the masses when that product is a necessity to living is a worthwhile endeavor. The fact that it also makes good business sense (in a country when more and more people are struggling to make ends meet) only makes me wonder why more people aren't doing it.