FanHouse Starbury

The Bulls clinched a playoff spot for the third consecutive year last night against their division rival Pistons, but that wasn't the only reason why the game was notable: it was also the first time that Big Ben was sporting his new Starbury kicks. Here's what he had to say before the game:

"I had couple of days to practice in them," Wallace of the shoes, which have a $14.98 retail price. "It's not a bad shoe at all. I mean, if anybody has doubts, then tonight they should come here to see what a $15 shoe can do."

Turns out the shoe can do a lot -- Ben grabbed a game-high 19 rebounds against his former teammates. He's expected to get his own signature edition of the shoe next year with presumably his own logo, but in the meantime it's pretty convenient that he shares the same jersey (No. 3) number as Marbury.

Previously on FanHouse:
LBJ vs. Marbury: the $150 Shoe vs. the $15 Shoe
Ben Wallace Joins the Starbury Revolution
Mark Cuban Loves the Starbury Shoes ... And That May Not Be a Good Thing

Stephon Marbury gained a lot of positive press for selling and wearing his line of $14.98 sneakers through discount apparel store Steve & Barry's. One of the most vocal fans of the shoes has been Mark Cuban:

"They're aren't many things we will do in our lives that will have an impact on culture and social change. To be able to send a message to kids and sell millions of shoes so the message gets through saying, save that extra $85 and buy your kid a guitar or some clothes. That is huge.

"You can look at NBA cares all you want. You can look at the things I've done for charity all you want. The NBA has never done anything as impactful as what he has done."

That's high praise, and it actually comes across sincere and without hyperbole. And from the sounds of it, Marbury has finally recruited another NBA star to join his movement to change America's mind that "cool" has to equal "expensive." From an email from Steve & Barry's public relations firm:

We are preparing to launch our Spring collection of Starbury ... Stephon Marbury's line exclusively with Steve & Barrys. But this is a much bigger story then another sports figure endorsing another sneaker. Starbury is revolutionizing the sneaker industry each $14.98 sneaker at a time. Of course that fashion aspect of the line is that we have really cool sneakers for men, women and kids that retail for $14.98 and are still considered cool among the sneakerheads of the world. And now Ben Wallace is joining the Starbury team. He believes as strongly in this "social movement" as Steph does.

I've always thought it strange that Ben Wallace doesn't have a shoe deal -- even last year, on his way to his fourth Defensive Player of the Year Award in five years, he was buying his own kicks. Now that he has the biggest contract of his life, he's going to be wearing gear he could have bought with paper-route money. Personally, I love the move, and I think it's a coup for Steve & Barry's, who are getting not only an extremely recognizable player but also one known for his blue-collar image. Kudos all around.

(via Larry Brown)