July 16, 2007
THE STARBURY BLOGS: Part 2

Stephon Marbury is the guest blogger on the Knicks blog this week as he files dispatches from the road during his 37-city, cross-country bus tour to promote his discount Starbury sneaker/apparel line.

By STEPHON MARBURY

Thanks to everybody who posted. You are getting to know my real story, from the inside out, not the outside in.

It's been said that you can't judge a book by its cover. To understand any subject, you have to spend time getting to know it and what is going on in the inside. That's the only way to get the real story. Some of the posters don't like that I know how to express myself here.

Most people take the easy road because it's easier to look at the cover and think you know what's up or believe what somebody else said.

Every city we go to we are touching people's lives. That's why I'm the happiest I've ever been in my life. They used to say I never smiled. Now when I smile because I'm happy they say I'm drunk or I'm high or have some type of problem.

I'm happy Nate Robinson won the summer-league MVP playing point the whole time. I heard he shouted me out in his post-game interview and told me to look out.

I'm happy that Nate feels like that about playing point guard.. Nate is the new wave of the future for the Knicks. I'm happy that he is going to come in this year to push me and himself in the right direction. Everything's sinking in. He's one dude I want to go to war with because he lays his heart out for you.

The tour is going great. While we were in Virginia and B-more, we went to the Barry Farms streetball tournament in DC. It was crazy.
The kid 720 with the crazy hops was there and dudes like "AO'' who used to be down with And 1. They were all rockin' Starbury gear. Starbury is locking down the streetball game too. I forgot to tell you that when Mayor Bloomberg left the meeting with me, he was wearing $14.98 Starburys.

After that we bounced through Charlotte. We stopped off at one of my favorite places to eat, Cracker Barrel. We met a nice lady named Lisa who worked there and told us the story of how she had promised her son she would buy him a pair of $175 Jordans even though she didn't want to. But he never had any brand name shoes. So she did it.

She wrote Michael Jordan a letter saying it was unfair a lot of children wouldn't be able to afford them and they shouldn't need Jordans to feel accepted.

She said they sent her a b.s. email back but that was it. I want Michael Jordan to get down with the movement and come out with a Star Jordan sneaker for the people. Let's see what happens.

I also met this kid Matt in Charlotte who called himself a sports nerd. He did a poster board with all of my career highlights like the Big O, Oscar Robertson, being the only other person besides me to average 20 points and 8 assists over his whole career. And they say I'm selfish.

We went to Orlando on Monday and stopped by Disney's Wide World of Sports for the girls national AAU championships. We gave Starbury shoes to the New York PAL team from Staten Island and a local Orlando team. That was cool cause now the girls have been asking for us to do Starburys for them and now we do.

I did an interview with ESPN and the reporter said I sounded like I don't care about basketball because I said "its just a game and what I'm doing off the court is bigger than just basketball.''

I told him maybe he would feel like that if he didn't make it to the NBA but I did and I love the game of basketball. But it's our job and the way we feed our families. It's not everything. There are much bigger things going on in the world.

It's media people like that who don't really know me for who I am that is the reason why people always get it twisted. After that, we hung out at Disneyworld. The tour is a grind so it was good to
be able to have fun for a minute. We rode my favorite ride called Soarin.

At the Orlando store, there was a kid in a wheelchair waiting outside the tour bus for me. He was just wanting my autograph but I took him in the store and everybody who was waiting started cheering. He was next to me for the whole signing and loved it.

We are on our way to the Midwest now as I write this. We hit Erie, P.A. and Elyria, Ohio on Tuesday and then Cleveland on Wednesday.
We're moving in the right direction on and off the court. People can try to judge this book by its cover but I know only God can really judge me cause God knows what's really in my heart. That should be enough to make anybody smile.

Posted by Bippity10:

Marbs definitely has low self-esteem. Everyone is out to get him, noone understands him. I think that's why his smiles never seem genuine.

Posted by TRU:

Posted by Bippity10:

I think that one thing poor people have to understand is that rich people don't buy $175 dollar Jordan's. That's why they are rich.

uhh... yeah some of them do

Yes, some of them do. But the people that feel they have to have these shoes, are usually the people that can't afford it. I play basketball in leagues with some rich as dudes. Ceo's, sales guys etc. Most of them where some ratty asse sneakers and could care less. The people that where those shoes usually where them as a status symbol. A self-esteem boost more than anything else. Those shoes are clearly marketed towards the inner cities. That's what Marbs supposedly is trying to change, no?