The Cooper Flagg-Approved New Balance 950 Is Here

Sneaker trends are coming and going at an unprecedented pace, a not-so-indirect product of shortened attention spans in the social media era. Exhibit A: the New Balance 550, the market’s de facto “it shoe” of a few years back that seemingly evaporated from everyone’s rotation as quickly as it arrived. But New Balance isn’t abandoning the retro hoops aesthetic entirely, instead revamping it with a new lifestyle model and an assist from the reigning NBA Rookie of the Year.

Meet the New Balance 950, a slightly more streamlined take on the 550 rooted in the same ’80s hoops DNA. The best way to describe it is as a fusion of the 550 and the New Balance T500 tennis sneaker, borrowing the layering and midsole of the former while adopting the cleaner, more tapered shape of the latter.

New Balance has tapped Dallas Mavericks star Cooper Flagg to front the model in the lead-up to its debut, outfitting him with early pairs for his pregame tunnel fits last season. Two colorways are available now via the New Balance website, “Angora/Silver Moss” and “Angora/Shipyard.” The model comes in at $120, ten dollars more than the 550. See official images below alongside purchase links for each style.