Tag: New Balance

NBA agent Rich Paul reportedly has a new signature sneaker with New Balance. No, seriously

I can’t believe this is a thing.

Look, it’s 2021. The days of athletes being the only names to care signature sneakers or even player exclusives are dead and gone.

These days, you’ve got music stars like Kanye West and designers like Virgil Abloh not only designing sneakers for companies but also putting their signature stamp on them. And, oftentimes, they go over better in the public than signature athletic sneakers.

But, uh, an agent with a signature shoe? Nah, that’s crazy. But it’s happening, though.

NBA super agent Rich Paul reportedly has a sneaker with his name on it coming from New Balance and I’ve never seen anything like this before.

His stamp is on New Balance’s 550. Truly can’t believe this is a thing.

I’m not sure what’s more unbelievable here: That this is actually a thing or that these are actually pretty good.

Sneaker fans reacted to both.

Watch our sneaker unboxing series, Special Delivery 

SPECIAL DELIVERY: Why this extremely weird New Balance sneaker is also one of its best

These shoes are so good.

New Balance’s XC-72 is undoubtedly one of the weirdest sneakers you’ll ever see. There’s not much out there that looks quite like it.

One half of it looks like it could be a running silhouette from the 70’s. The other half looks like it could be a modern-day trail runner. The entire thing has this sort of contemporary feel to it that can’t quite be placed.

The retro-futuristic look and style of this sneaker is what its designer, Charlotte Lee, has become a master of. She’s put together 3 different silhouettes using this concept so far and they’ve all been excellent.

But the XC-72 is the best yet. On this week’s episode of Special Delivery, Sykes and crew explain why.

You don’t want to miss this.

SPECIAL DELIVERY: Is New Balance and Bodega’s ‘Anniversary’ 990v3 a brick?

What is a brick, anyway?

What is a brick, anyway? That’s what the crew set out to figure out on the latest episode of Special Delivery.

Sykes and company ask themselves some important questions about New Balance and Bodega’s “Anniversary” 990v3 New Balance shoes. The shoes dropped from Bodega and sold out almost instantaneously.

But…people are still calling them bricks which, in sneakerhead language, means they’re bad.

But are these shoes bad? Or did they serve the exact purpose they were supposed to? And why do people think they’re bad in the first place?

All of those questions and more are answered in the latest episode of Special Delivery. Tap in.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pgHz7vbqMWw

SPECIAL DELIVERY: Unboxing Kawhi Leonard’s origin story with New Balance’s Moreno Valley Kawhi 1`

How much do you really know about Kawhi Leonard? Find out on today’s episode!

Kawhi Leonard is still such an enigma after a decade of playing in the NBA.

Yes, we know he’s a cyborg. And we also know he can do whatever he wants on the basketball court whenever he wants to. That’s why he’s a two-time NBA champion and Finals MVP.

But how much do we actually know about Kawhi Leonard the person? The truth is probably not that much! New Balance is here to help us, though.

Story telling has been at the center of Kawhi Leonard’s signature shoe — the Kawhi 1. From the Four Bounce colorway to the Seismic Moment joints, New Balance has told us about all of the pivotal moments of Kawhi’s career.

Sykes and the Special Delivery crew unbox Kawhi’s origin story with the Moreno Valley Kawhi 1 in their latest episode. And they take a quiz about Kawhi to see how much they really know about the Klaw.

Tap in!

https://youtu.be/YOBrXkjW2PQ

SPECIAL DELIVERY: Why did New Balance bring back this 30 year old basketball shoe in 2021?

Tap in with New Balance’s newest OG model.

Old school is what rules the new school — especially when it comes to sneakers. Think about everything that is “in” right now.

The most popular kicks out are Jordan Brand’s Jordan 1, which is a basketball shoe that dropped in 1985. So is its cousin, the Nike Dunk. Another popular shoe that originally released as a basketball OG model in the 80’s.

Certainly, you see the trend by now. Vintage flavors of old basketball shoes are at the top of the sneaker game right now. New Balance is staking its claim on that territory with the P-550.

This wasn’t a popular basketball shoe back in 1989 when it dropped, but they revived it and gave it new life in 2021.

Find out how they did it and why in the latest episode of Special Delivery.

 

SPECIAL DELIVERY: Why did New Balance send us a BIBLE to unbox?

More Black excellence.

The Special Delivery crew continued to honor Black History Month with another BHM pack. This week’s heat came from New Balance.

As part of their “My Story Matters” collection, New Balance sent over a Bible box with a couple pairs of shoes in it — the 990 and the 574. These shoes were created by a team of Black designers at New Balance to share the themes they thought were most important during Black History Month.

The biggest one? Elevation. The team wanted to make clear that there were so many Black lives and Black stories that needed to be told and that we should do work in telling them all year long — not just in February.

This package tells that story through a song. Which one? You’ll have to watch the video above to find out.

Kawhi Leonard’s signature shoe is finally here and 76ers fans are going to absolutely hate it

This is elite pettiness.

It’s been a long time coming, but Kawhi Leonard’s signature shoe is finally going to be available to the public starting later this week.

We caught a first look at Leonard’s shoe — dubbed The KAWHI — when it debuted earlier this year in the All-Star game, but the people couldn’t get their hands on it. It wasn’t set to launch in stores until later in 2020 closer to the Fall season.

That time is here. On Thursday, fans of Leonard will finally be able to grab his signature shoe from New Balance. But it’s coming with a bit of a twist.

It’s the same model as the shoe that debuted in the All-Star game, but a different colorway. And Philadelphia 76ers fans are going to absolutely hate this one.

New Balance is calling this colorway the “4 Bounces.” Here’s a good look at it.

It’s not hard to guess what this is alluding to. It’s the four bounces that put the Sixers out of the playoffs last year.

Just in case you forgot.

Ouch. Poor Sixers fans.

The shoe’s colorway is a call back to that moment. The colorway is same as the OMN1’s Leonard was wearing when he hit that ridiculous shot over Joel Embiid.

That’s a moment none of us will soon forget. Not just because it was special, either. But also, clearly, Kawhi and New Balance just won’t let us.

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The Los Angeles Lakers center Dwight …

The Los Angeles Lakers center Dwight Howard has just got a gift from his rival. The Los Angeles Clippers superstar Kawhi Leonard sent Howard some New Balance gear. Howard shared it via Instagram story, thanking Kawhi for the gear. The Lakers and Clippers are expected by many to meet in the Western Conference Finals. The two Los Angeles sides are currently occupying first and second places in the West.

In today’s analysis, Powell said Nike …

In today’s analysis, Powell said Nike footwear sales were down about 75% for the last week of March, and there were similar declines for Adidas, Vans and New Balance. Sales for companies including Jordan Brand, Under Armour, Converse and Skechers took hits of more than 80%. The label that fared best, although still experiencing a drop in sales, was Brooks, with a decline of roughly 55%. According to Powell, the market’s largest category, sport lifestyle footwear, dropped approximately 75%. He noted a similar decline was experienced with skate footwear.