NBA Watch League Pass

Kawhi Leonard, Jamal Murray, Zach LaVine, and the rise of New Balance basketball

Jed Wells

•
Kawhi Leonard, Jamal Murray, Zach LaVine, and the rise of New Balance basketball image

Over the last few seasons, the NBA has seen an explosion of on-court sneaker brands, with logos gracing players' shoes that were previously inconceivable. 

Whether it's new brands like Sketchers and Rigorer, or the re-emergence of legacy brands such as Converse and Puma, the NBA sneaker landscape is currently as diverse as it's ever been. 

One such brand is New Balance, the former 'dad-shoe' brand of choice enjoying an atmospheric rise in popularity in past years, both on and off the court. 

But how did a brand once relegated to barbecuing and mowing lawns become one of the major players in the world's biggest basketball league? 

It started much like the best championship teams do in the NBA: by securing their franchise player. 

Kawhi Leonard launches New Balance basketball

New Balance needed a bonafide superstar to launch their foray into basketball, and they found one with Leonard, who at the time was a Finals MVP and perennial All-Star, All-NBA player, previously signed to Jordan Brand. 

The fact that his debut season with NB coincided with his lone year with the Toronto Raptors, where he almost single-handedly carried the franchise to their first-ever championship and won his second Finals MVP, was just a bonus.  

Now on to his third signature shoe, Leonard has put together an impressive collection since his 2018 signing, including collaborations with Chicago designer Joe Freshgoods, and candy company Jolly Ranchers. 

Kawhi's work with New Balance provided the foundation in basketball, but it's the moves they made next that cemented their spot. 

New Balance builds out talented young roster

With Kawhi, New Balance had the 'now', but now what they needed was the 'next', a collection of players to carry the torch.

Enter Jamal Murray, Zach LaVine, Dejounte Murray, and Tyrese Maxey. 

New Balance picked their spots carefully, locating star-level players who were just enough on the fringes at other brands that they were willing to join the crew. 

From Adidas, they took a two-time All-Star and face of one of the NBA's most iconic franchises in Zach LaVine, as well as the second most important player on one of this decades most dominant teams, Jamal Murray. 

Dejounte Murray, the controversial yet undeniable two-way star from Atlanta-via-San Antonio was initially a Nike athlete, but he too jumped at the opportunity to become one of New Balance's focal points. 

But possibly their savviest move so far was the signing of Philadelphia 76ers guard Tyrese Maxey, also a former swoosh-wearer, and a rapidly rising talent who may be the best of this group. 

So far, this group has been wearing one of two sneaker lines - the low-top New Balance Two Wxy, and the higher New Balance Fresh Foam BB - the New Balance Two Wxy V3 in particular was arguably their most iconic shoe to date.

None of the players have been given a sneaker line as of yet - Zach LaVine seems to be the poster boy for the Fresh Foam BB line, but it is not branded as his sneaker - but with this amount of talent in the waiting room, it seems like when, not if, many of these players will debut their own model. 

Jed Wells

Jed Wells Photo

Jed is a writer and social media producer, who has a keen interest in the intersection of sports and popular culture, especially basketball.