Hot shoes, cool price.

The N.B.A. season won't begin until the end of this month, but New York Knicks point guard Stephon Marbury is already scoring points, at least with parents. In August, he introduced a high-performance sneaker--the Starbury One--that costs $15. He signed the dear with discount retailer Steve & Barry's University Sportswear, and will wear the shoe in games this season. 'Marbury says his motivation for the endorsement was his childhood recollections of how many of his friends could not afford high-priced, high-end sneakers. I doubt that Marbury's $15 shoe will get Reebok, Nike, and Adidas to rethink their pricing. But there's an outside chance that he will get the industry at least to put the sneaker on the other foot.--William C. Rhoden [8/25/06]