Who is Stephon Marbury? How is he related to AND1 and what is his net worth right now?
Stephon Marbury was affiliated with AND1 during the early stages of his NBA career. Founded in 1993, AND1 needed a young talented player to promote the company, and Marbury was perfect for it.
Unfortunately, things did not go well between the sporting goods company and the NBA star, which was revealed in the Netflix documentary, "Untold: The Rise and Fall of AND1."
In this article, we take a look at Marbury's partnership with AND1, his own sneaker business and his net worth in 2022.
Stephon Marbury helped AND1
Marbury became AND1's first big-time signing as he was picked fourth overall by the Milwaukee Bucks in the 1996 NBA Draft. Back then, AND1 was a three-year-old company with no history of signing NBA players.
Street basketball is completely different from the NBA, yet the rookie decided to go with the street basketball brand instead of signing with one of the established sneaker brands.
"Marbury 1s" sneakers were introduced in 1996 and became AND1's first basketball shoes ever. This partnership started the AND1 Mixtape Tour, which achieved a lot of success, both in the United States and internationally.
Both Stephon Marbury and AND1 gained popularity. The basketball shoe brand became a household name and even competed with Nike for sales, while Marbury was named to the All-Rookies first team.
Unfortunately, the young NBA star sued AND1 for compensation and royalties in June 1998. In his lawsuit, the young player claimed that the company owed him more than $125,000 in royalties.
A few months later, Stephon Marbury decided to withdraw his lawsuit as the parties agreed to resolve the issue through binding arbitration.
In 2017, AND1 relaunched "Marbury 1s." Renamed “The Coney Island Classic,” the sneakers returned in three different colors at a retail price of $90.
Marbury's sneaker business and net worth
Stephon Marbury launched his own line of basketball shoes in 2006. Named "Starbury," which was his nickname, the sneakers went on sale for only $15 a pair.
Marbury wanted to help underprivileged kids who couldn't afford Nike shoes that cost $100 or more. The former AND1 icon even took shots at Michael Jordan and his overpriced shoes, saying that kids are getting killed for them.
Jordan has been robbing the hood since. Kids dying for shoes and the only face this dude makes is I don't care. The time will change!
Marbury wore "The Starbury One" sneakers in 2007 while playing for the New York Knicks. He claimed that there was no quality difference between his shoes and the more expensive shoes that other brands were selling.
Many NBA players supported Stephon Marbury's shoe line, including Steve Francis and Ben Wallace.
250$ VS 15$
Marbury's sneaker business fell apart in 2009, but he relaunched it in 2015. Sneaker fans can still order "Starbury 3" shoes from the official website of the brand.
The point guard spent 13 years in the NBA and played for six teams. After that, Marbury joined the Chinese Basketball Association, where he achieved a lot of success. The former NBA player won three titles with the Beijing Ducks and is currently the coach of the Beijing Royal Fighters.
Stephon Marbury made $151 million from his NBA contracts and his current net worth is $40 million.