By Andy Marston, Sports Pundit
New Balance is going all-in on basketball with 18-year-old Cooper Flagg as the face of the brand’s next chapter as it strives to enter into the top-three athletic-wear brands globally.
Flagg, the No. 1 pick in this year’s NBA Draft, signed with New Balance before even playing a game at Duke.
The Boston-based brand, better known for its dad shoes and running heritage, beat out the likes of Nike and Adidas to lock in one of the most hyped American prospects in years.
His signing kicks off New Balance’s relaunch of its basketball division, with new products, NIL deals, and a renewed push into a sport it sees as key to becoming a global top-three athletic brand.
The launch is already in motion: a "Flagg Day" merch drop, promotional campaigns shot in L.A., and a limited-edition Canvas Series colourway designed by Flagg himself ahead of his Dallas Mavericks debut.
Why It Matters:
New Balance’s strategy is all about backing stars early and betting on them as brands. The strategy is quality over quantity, and it’s working so far with the likes of Coco Gauff, Shohei Ohtani, and Gabby Thomas.
As sports fashion analyst Daniel-Yaw Miller (who writes the excellent SportsVerse) puts it:
“Because of New Balance’s approach in signing fewer names than its rivals, it can offer these athletes a dedicated focus on investment in bespoke products and their personal brands that others can’t match.”
Flagg is already legendary with Gen Z and meme-friendly enough to move product and community. This deal follows the same blueprint New Balance used to rocket Gauff to superstardom.
If it works again, it signals a new path forward: fewer logos, deeper storytelling, and creator-level control of brand equity that starts even before getting in the pros.
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