The other day I played basketball with a teenager named Johnathan. Next year he'll play on the varsity team for Aliso Niguel High School. You may remember that school. It made national news last year with the Principal (a stalwart African-American man) banned school dances because the kids were getting too freaky-deaky on the dance floor.
While Johnathan schooled me on the court I asked him about Starburys, the Stephon Marbury sponsored athletic shoe line. You may remember those shoes. They made national headlines last year when Stephon, a highly regarded NBA player, promoted a line of shoes where the top retail price was only $15. Parents and civic leaders praised Stephon and the shoes manufacturers.
But what do the kids, the primary market target, think about them?
So I asked Johnathan. "We ain't really diggin' 'em," he said. "How come," I replied. "Because they're cheap?" "You mean because they only cost $15 dollars, your peers won't buy them?" "That's right." Then he shot a three-pointer over my head.
I didn't have any wise old man retort at the time but it did make me think that in an era when we get our collective underwear all knotted up over Don Imus, how are we addressing, and I mean really addressing, the present values of our kids?
I don't have any stock in the company and I don't know Stephon Marbury but I do applaud what he is doing. So here's my pledge: the next basketball shoes I buy will cost $15. Who knows, maybe that might turn the head of some teen and even help me do a little better on the basketball court.
Don't know about the shoes? Click this