So often major black figures harm the prospects of black youths by providing them false hope that their basketball or rapping skills are their ticket out of poverty, not hard work or staying in school (I’ve blogged about this here).Even worse is the exploitation of these false hopes by buisnesses. Worst of all are shoe companies that sell a $5 pair of Air Jordan’s for $200, deliberately marketing it to those who can ill afford to splurg on something so useless. Well, it looks like someone has finally decided to take advantage of this disgustingly exploited market, in a good way:

The New York Knicks star guard officially launches his new Starbury fashion line and Starbury One basketball shoes on Thursday. And fans may be shocked: Rather than the typical $200 for a pair of high performance shoes, Starbury Ones cost a whopping $15. And that goes for everything in the collection–jerseys, jeans, jackets and much more are sold at bargain prices…And to prove quality was not compromised to make his $15 shoes, Marbury will play in them during the upcoming National Basketball Association season.

Apparently everything but the $15 shoes will be sold for under $10. I have never really liked Marbury, but this is by far the best way a basketball star to truly “give back to the community.” It would be great to see more athletes get behind this too, the bucks might not be there, but the message definitely is.