New Balance spent years with one basketball name that mattered, and now you practically trip over them. Kawhi Leonard, Cooper Flagg, Cameron Brink, Tyrese Maxey — the signature roster is growing faster than most people can track. The New Balance Maxey 1 is the newest entry: the first signature shoe from the Philadelphia guard, out in early November in a colourway called “Red Rock”.
Let me be fair: the shoe looks fine. A black upper with wavy, almost liquid overlays in rust red, a big black N on the side, and a solid, rounded sole underneath. It’s a performance shoe that isn’t trying to be a lifestyle statement, and that suits it. But “fine” is exactly the problem. In a year where New Balance launches this many signatures at once, a debut has to do something to stand out — and the Maxey 1 picks solid over bold.
The question isn’t whether it’s good, it’s whether anyone notices
That’s not a disqualification. A first signature is allowed to lay a tidy base; the real personality usually shows up on the second or third. On court the package looks the part: dual-density foam, a stabilising plate, the usual modern hoops kit. If you want a wearable basketball shoe with no fuss, you’re in the right place.
So where does that leave the buyer on Solezilla.com? Better served than you’d expect for a quiet release. In euros it runs from 139.99 at BSTN and Foot Locker up to 245 at a consignment shop. The UK side is live too — Foot Locker UK opens at 119.99 pounds, with BSTN close behind and a 200-pound outlier above — and there’s a single US listing at 130 dollars. So the shops are there; the hype simply isn’t. No queue, no resale panic, and nothing on our vote counter yet.
If you want to lay that whole crowded line-up next to each other, the Maxey 1 and the wider New Balance range are right there to compare.
So: does this first Maxey earn your attention, or does it vanish into the pile? Grail or Bail — I’m curious whether anyone picks it up.