Sign of the Apocalypse- LeBron James: Asshole, Stephon Marbury: Moral High Ground

The BBQ Pit
1

Let’s get one thing out of the way: I dislike Stephon Marbury as intently as a sports fan can dislike a professional sports player. He’s selfish. He shoots first and passes second. Every team he’s ever been on has gotten better after he’s left it. He is, by all accounts, a class-A prick.

BUT, in this situation, he’s right on target.

A slightly biased story, but one that gets the basic facts right.

Essentially, LeBron James (who wears his signature, $150.00 Nike shoe) said that he would not be able to endorse Marbury’s ($15.00) shoe because he and Nike hold themselves to a higher standard.

Marbury’s response? “I’d rather own than be owned.”
Good on you, Stephon Marbury (oh, sweet goodness, it HURT to type that).

Here we have a sneaker that is actually WORN on the court by a big-time NBA star, that a kid (or his parents) can actually afford.

I am given to understand (and this is from sports commentators- I haven’t worn a high-quality basketball shoe since 1993) that the two shoes are comparable in quality. At the very least, Marbury’s shoe is of such high quality that two big-time NBA stars are comfortable playing in it.

So let’s just say that both shoes are professional quality. One costs fifteen bucks, the other, ten times that. James gets paid to wear his shoe, Marbury has a financial stake in the company that makes the shoe, a company whose stated goal is to give regular kids a real shoe without taking food off the table.
Give up, LeBron. Apologize to Marbury, say something about “the kids” and let this die. There is no way under the sun that you and Nike are going to EVER get the moral high ground on this one.

[sub](apologies if this isn’t normal Pit tenor, but given the involvement of Nike, huge retail markups, exploitation of children, and pro athletes, I figured it’d end up here.)[/sub]

2

Let me tell you everything I know about Stephon Marbury. Ready? Here it is: He’s the guy marketing the inexpensive shoes.

I only watch basketball when the Pistons are playing for the championship, so I miss out on all the other drama. But I LOVE what this guy is doing.

Actually, since LeBron and Marbury are apparently friends, maybe this incident was staged? I’ll be shocked if “I’d rather own than be owned” isn’t on a million tee shirts by next week.

Hmmm… Is the maker of Starburys a publicly traded company?

3

This pitting doesn’t offer much in the way of venom, but does state a valid complaint. Mandatory deduction for lack of a single “fuckwit” applies. 6/10.

I know very little about the NBA. Don’t follow basketball unless there’s a newsworthy incident of some type that catches my attention. Never heard of Stephon Marbury, but I really like what he’s doing here. For my clients, $150 can be a week’s wages. “Real” sports shoes are a huge deal for kids…and providing an affordable, high quality “real” shoe rocks hardcore. Karana smiles upon Mr. Marbury’s efforts.

4

LeBron James is also building a 35,000 square foot house. I wonder how many pairs of shoes would fit in that thing.

5

Good on Marbury - who also hit two killer shots as the Knicks beat the Cavs last night. And I’m not surprised Ben Wallace is joining him.

LeBron’s great and all, but lately I wonder if he’s losing touch with reality.

6

I am happy that Marbury is doing this. As a young guy I can tell you how much pressure there is on parents to get their kids the newest and most fashionable clothes. $150 is more than I ever got spent on schools clothes for me growing up until I could buy my own. That’s a lot of money to a lot of people.

I would also like to mention that I have a pair of his basketball shorts. High quality for only $6 or $7. With a Nike or Adidas logo they are 20 easily. These things are probably made in a sweat shop somewhere so we shouldn’t get too happy, but he is doing a service to America’s youth.

7

I would be surprised if the Nike and Adidas shoes weren’t made in a sweatshop as well.

8

They’re pretty good sneakers. The innersoles are cardboard, but a pair of Dr. Scholl insoles fix that. They wear pretty quickly, though, mine are, what, a year old, and the heels are worn badly.

Still, they were nine bucks.

9

Well, the answer to “Is the Starbury shoe made in sweatshops?” appears to be, well, yes and no.

As far as LeBron’s shoe, well, it’s Nike, but beyond that, the google search is overwhelmed by the whole Ralph Nader sweatshop campaign. I confess to being unable to point to a direct link between LeBron’s specific shoe and sweatshops, but Nike itself is quite notorious in this regard.
Sources: google searches “stephon marbury sweatshop” and “lebron james sweatshop.”
Ralph Nader, is, of course, involved.

10

Personally, I’m waiting for the Ralph Nader line of shoes. I think they should explode if you hit the heel too hard.

11

Ralph Nader shoes would be three to a pair: there would be a left shoe, a right shoe, and a second shoe attached to the left one that tells you the left shoe is too close to the right shoe. :smiley:

From what I can see, LeBron is following a long tradition of athletes not caring where their money comes from. Michael Jordan was my favorite player ever, and he was no better about it. That’s not an excuse for LeBron, I’m just noting there’s a predecent for this.

12

Oh, I agree with you wholeheartedly. The purpose of my post was to do two things: to marvel at the fact that someone was NOT doing the LeBron/Jordan thing, and to both marvel and seethe at the fact that now I gotta cheer for Stephon Marbury.

13

Would you be surprised to learn that many Nike, Adidas, Puma, and other shoes all come from the exact same Chinese manufacturing company?

14

Jordan was cocky and arrogant, and practically started the whole “superstar shoe” concept, but this incident is not about selling an expensive shoe. It’s about knocking another guy’s shoe. A shoe put out there to give poor children a chance to have decent sneakers. Saying you couldn’t market that sort of shoe because you “have standards”.

Nobody cares about LeBron’s pricey shoe, it’s the knocking of Marbury’s shoe that is low class.

15

People like LeBron James are part of the reason why Myles Brand wants to see a three-year wait between high school and the NBA draft. (Obviously, college ball counts toward the wait.) They’re too young and too immature to responsibly manage the kind of money they make. In fact, ISTR the NBA requiring all new players to go through some sort of course in financial management to try to teach them some responsibility.

Robin

16

I don’t think that financial management has anything to do with the issue at hand. LeBron can easily afford his house, and he’s actually handled his situation pretty well.

Myles Brand wants to maintain the salability of his OWN brand, NCAA basketball. The Jeremy Bloom incident is evidence enough that the NCAA worries about the NCAA and not the athlete.
LeBron James is an asshole not because he has money, but because he tried to shit on what Marbury is doing.

17

It’s funny how nobody ever suggests this for NHL players. 18 and 19 year old kids are often drafted directly into the NHL and become impact players; Sidney Crosby, for instance. Wayne Gretzky. Jimmy Carson. They make millions. I wonder why it is nobody ever talks about how they’re too immature to play in the NHl and make big bux?

Hmm… what could the difference be between NBA and NHL players, hmmm…

And what’s your evidence that this is the case? Lebron James’s comment is hardly evidence there’s anything wrong with him; it’s a small, meaningless, off-the-cuff statement that has absolutely jack shit to do with how he runs his own life. He’s an adult now, shouldn’t he be allowed to decide what job he wants to do? Do you have evidence of some sort he’s pissing all his money away?

18

There’s no half-way decent basketball development league, so young players have to develop in college or jump all the way to the top level of the pros?

Notice how MLB, which has A/AA/AAA, allows drafting of high school players, while the NFL, which has no comparable development league, does not?

19

Well, for one, you seem to be implying a racial difference when it’s actually a cultural difference. The difference is rural kids vs. urban kids, not white vs. black.

On that note, you rarely see a whole army of hangers-on on a young hockey star looking to make a buck off him, therefore telling him that he’s awesome and he’s #1 and he’s untouchable. How many walkaround guys do you think Sidney Cosby has? The consensus “Next One,” Eric Lindros, had the most asshole father in the history of hockey, but even he didn’t take out a loan against his kid’s future earnings to buy him a Hummer.

Developmentally, also, young hockey players are placed with host families in the towns where their teams play, so there’s a lot more structure afforded to a young hockey player.

Furthermore, you never really hear about one kid shooting another kid for his Bauer skates, just because they’re the same ones Sidney Crosby wears or for his Jofa helmet, because it’s the same one Gretzky wore.

Even further, average NHL salary is at 1.4 million and dropping. The average NBA salary is 5.2 million and is increasing every year.
And, even further than further, when was the last time you saw an NHL player with a nationally-recognized endorsement deal? You haven’t. Because hockey players aren’t popular. Putting a hockey player’s name on your product is not going to send units flying off the shelves.
If we accept the fact that a star with a following has a responsibility to that following, then LeBron has a greater responsibility because, quite simply, WAY more people know who he is than know that Sidney Crosby even exists.
To compare ice hockey to basketball when it comes to the lifestyles of its players is tempting because of the obvious racial differences, but this isn’t about race.

20

I have a pair, they’re nice and all, but make that annoying beeping noise whenever I walk backwards