Writing Feature Articles - Step 1 - Lesson 1 | Page 65

Intermediate Writing Feature Articles - Lesson Writing Feature Articles - Handout . a Name: ________________________________________ Date: ___________________ . a: Feature Articles Packet (page of ) “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