Intermediate
Writing Feature Articles - Lesson
Writing Feature Articles - Handout . a
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. a: Feature Articles Packet
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“NBA Star Sell
Sneakers” continued
Growth of the signature shoe
Marbury grew up in the Coney Island section of Brooklyn, while Wallace hails from small-town Alabama.
But they have a lot in common.
Like Marbury, who had six brothers and sisters, Wallace came from a big family – he had ten siblings –
and wore whatever shoes one of his older brothers had outgrown. Also like Marbury, he was offended
at the exorbitant prices the big shoe companies charge for the signature footwear of the game’s biggest
stars.
"Why you want your name associated with a pair shoes nobody can afford?” he told TODAY. “I think that
defeats the purpose."
Both players are foregoing big endorsement checks
by putting their names on – and their feet in –
inexpensive shoes. Once upon a time, all basketball
shoes were affordable. But then Nike founder Phil
Knight realized that if he could design a special shoe
and put it on the feet of one of the game’s greatest
players, he could charge a premium for them.
In 1985, he signed Michael Jordan, the promising
young star of the Chicago Bulls, to an endorsement
deal and brought out the ?rst Air Jordan sneaker.
The shoe was red and black with a big Nike Swoosh
on the side and was so brash in their design that the
NBA told Jordan he would be ?ned if he wore them
in games. Knight gladly paid the ?nes and in no time at all, every kid in America had to have a pair.
As Jordan matured into the greatest player of all time, fans camped out in front of shoe stores to be
the ?rst to buy the latest model Air Jordan, and kids were mugged for their shoes. Jordan himself made
more money from Nike endorsements than he did from playing basketball.
After that, every new star had to have a signature shoe, with prices running up to $175 and
endorsement deals worth tens of millions of dollars.
Marbury has at times been accused of being sel?sh with the ball on the court, but no one has ever
called him se