LOS ANGELES — Stepping out of a snow-white stretch Hummer, NBA star Stephon Marbury arrives in style at a spanking new Steve & Barry’s University Sportswear store.

The lavish ride is somewhat out of sync with the radically affordable $14.98 Starbury One basketball shoe he’s promoting.

The low price of the Starbury One — which Marbury says he plans to wear on the court this year — has generated huge publicity and plenty of debate about the quality of the shoe. Marbury insists that it is comparable to other high-end basketball shoes.

“It’s the same shoe. The same shoe,” he says, laughing.

Well, yes and no, says Dr. Bob Baravarian, chief of podiatry at Santa Monica-UCLA Medical Center. At the Foot & Ankle Institute in Santa Monica, where he’s co-director, Baravarian takes the shoe for a spin in the waiting room.

Hopping around in blue scrubs, Baravarian jogs a few laps down the hall and then comes back into the room.

He sits down, takes off the shoe and examines it closely. He puts one hand on the toe and the other hand on the heel and gives it a good twist, like a dishrag.

His colleague Dr. Gary Briskin, co-founder of the institute, tries on the shoe next. He then takes it off and gives it a good twist as well.

Baravarian finds the shoe to be a little soft, though Briskin finds it “a lot soft.” That’s a key point. The softer, or more flexible, the shoe is, the less support it will provide.

It’s somewhat hard to assess the construction of the Starbury One because the leather extends to the bottom of the shoe, thus obscuring the sole’s depth.

“So you don’t know the level of technology,” Baravarian says, “but just from the looks of it, it’s got a standard sole, a foam layer.” A top-of-the-line shoe will often have more dense materials, such as a piece of plastic in the sole for added support and to prevent roll motion.

The two deem Starbury’s insole acceptable, without excessive cushioning.

For the average 16-year-old with good feet or, lacking that, a proper insole, the shoes are structurally acceptable, Baravarian says. The price tag, he adds, elevates them to “awesome.”

Whether a pro could play in the shoe is another matter. Baravarian and Briskin are both skeptical about Marbury wearing the shoe on the court.

On the other hand, he says, “it feels really nice,” and if it wasn’t for his low arches, “I’d go buy them tomorrow.”

More than anything, Baravarian appreciates the concept of an affordable basketball shoe.

“He’s made a shoe that a lot of kids will buy and wear, and it still looks good enough to be cool without costing a fortune.”

In Lincoln

The Starbury One shoe, made exclusively for Steve & Barry's, is available at Lincoln's Steve & Barry's sportswear store at Westfield Gateway Mall.