Official NB basketball thread

Cooper Flagg’s Next Chapter With New Balance And First PE Launch Are Here​

Nick DePaula

6–8 minutes

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At the Mavericks team hotel in Las Vegas this past July, where he had just wrapped up his first pro SLAM cover shoot, Cooper Flagg tried to visualize a moment years in the making, but only months ahead — his NBA debut game in October.

“It’s going to be a surreal feeling,” he predicted.

Now, we’re less than a week away, as Dallas and the #1 overall pick take on the San Antonio Spurs on October 22nd. New Balance has been planning for this moment ever since signing Flagg over a year ago, and will launch Cooper’s very first PE sneaker to coincide with his debut.

“I’m taking the next step in my career,” says Flagg. “But I’m always going to be a product of my hometown in Maine.”



Inspired by the greenery of his home state, Cooper’s first footwear retail release with the brand will be this clean nature-informed look of the Hesi Low V2.

“It represents the makeup of Maine and the physical features,” says Kevin Trotman, Senior Basketball Product Manager at New Balance. “There’s a mosaic green on the shoe, and you’ll also see details inspired by the sea salts.”

Flagg’s first footwear launch could’ve pulled from a variety of inspirations, but all along, his pride for Maine shined through. There’s also the added layer of his childhood connection to the brand, as New Balance’s Maine manufacturing facility in Skowhagen was just a 25 minute drive from Newport, where Flagg grew up. His mother Kelly would often take her three boys to the annual New Balance tent sale to buy them shoes for the new school year.

“When we met his parents, his brothers and his grandparents, the humility and their familial unit was so refreshing,” said Chris Davis, New Balance President. “They definitely had the Maine values that we share.”



New Balance officially signed Flagg in June of 2024 to a multi-year NIL shoe deal that also included several inevitable NBA seasons. Davis excitedly got the call from Cooper himself, as he described in our recent cover story. The advanced timeline afforded the two a full year to begin their relationship and meet often to plan ahead on product.

Once Flagg got settled in at Duke, a squad from New Balance went down to Durham to meet with “Coop” on campus. Inside of Cameron Indoor Stadium, Flagg tested out a variety of future models from the brand, keying in on the Hesi Low V2 as his favorite model of the upcoming lineup.

He liked the locked-in feel and support. Court feel is a priority as well, when he’s cutting, stopping and going, he mentioned. And most of all, the shoe is designed with a low-top cut that he felt quick and versatile in.

“That’s what the Hesi Low really provided. All of those three things into one,” added Trotman. “His playing style really speaks to the shoe as well. He’s really smooth and he has a timeless type of game.”

Behind the scenes as his lone college season played out, the group continued to explore how Maine-inspired themes could come to life in his first player exclusive sneaker design. By the time they met in Las Vegas after the Draft, over a few days during Summer League, the team had the final white and green look locked in.

“We wanted to make something that was really timeless,” described Trotman. “That we could look back at ten years from now and feel really good about.”



In many ways, Coop represents a new generation of players that grew up knowing New Balance as a brand present in performance basketball. After first re-launching in 2018 after a two decade hiatus, the brand has been getting busy in hoops and growing with the game.

“Kawhi Leonard was the ultimate validator,” recalls Davis. “Getting Kawhi on board and solidifying the category with authenticity, was absolutely critical. When you bring Kawhi on board, then you start to get even younger athletes like Dejounte Murray, Zach LaVine, Darius Garland, Tyrese Maxey and Jamal Murray — it’s a situation where success breeds success.”

With a “selective” roster of stars now on board, the company had long circled Flagg as a potential future face of the brand. When he met with a trio of New Balance execs during his initial pitch meeting in Los Angeles, he could feel that sense of priority in store.

“Seeing the vision that they had for me and my brand,” Flagg said of the deciding factor. “New Balance being a New England brand was definitely a big part of it, and the vision and the culture that they have.”

Even though he chose to sign with New Balance exactly a year and a day before his eventual NBA Draft date, let alone before even playing a single college game, the expectation all along was that he’d be the first name called this past June 25th. The brand began to build out marketing plans for “Flagg Day” and his eventual pro journey in store.

“I think any number one pick is inspirational,” begins Davis. “But what do they inspire? Cooper has this ability to inspire humility, dedication, commitment, rigor and also be a team player. That’s a unique thing for a super hyped up player to inspire.”



Flagg frames it a similar way.

“I think the way that I represent myself on the court,” he said. “Just playing hard all the time and always being about winning first and team first, is something that can send a good message to a lot of people.”

As New Balance continues to plan ahead for a future featuring Flagg, expect to see a shift for the brand come to life as his rookie season plays out.

“Heading into 2026, you’ll definitely see a stark difference from the category with New Balance Basketball,” Trotman foreshadows. “From the way that we’re marketing our product, to the merchandising and how you see us on social — there’s going to be a clear reset at the top of 2026. With Cooper being a player of his stature, he’ll be at the forefront of the next chapter of New Balance Basketball.”

Always looking to stay in the present, and never one to think too far ahead, Flagg’s immediate priority for now is Wednesday night. Cooper has long anticipated that “surreal feeling” of his debut game, and he’ll be lacing up his white and green Maine-inspired edition of the New Balance Hesi Low V2 PEs for the occasion.

“Working with the New Balance design team on this has been really cool,” added Flagg. “It allows me to take a piece of Newport with me as I step onto the court for my first official NBA game.”