The New Balance Tyrese Maxey v1 shoe lands on 2 October for £119.99, blending FuelCell cushioning, lateral support and 9060-inspired styling.
The New Balance Tyrese Maxey v1 shoe will make its worldwide debut on 2 October, priced at £119.99, giving the two-time All-Star his first signature model and New Balance another rather conspicuous piece on its basketball chessboard.
It is designed around speed and rapid changes of direction, but the more interesting detail may be where its looks came from: not another basketball shoe, but the brand’s lifestyle catalogue.
For Maxey, that distinction appears deliberate. Signature shoes have never suffered from a shortage of logos, initials or increasingly elaborate personal mythology. The Maxey v1 takes a slightly different route, borrowing recognisable New Balance details and asking the performance hardware to do the running.
A first Tyrese Maxey signature shoe with lifestyle DNA
The visual reference point is the New Balance 9060, whose sculpted design language has been carried into the Maxey v1’s outriggers. The upper lacing, meanwhile, takes inspiration from the New Balance 2002.
There is also a blue flying NB badge at the heel, while Maxey’s name appears on the tongue and sockliner. “V1” sits on the lace keeper, just in case anyone suspects there might be ambitions for a sequel.
Maxey says the intention was to create something recognisably New Balance without depending on the obvious branding.
“I wanted my shoe to have an iconic look that you don’t need to see the ‘N’ to know it’s a New Balance shoe,” says Tyrese Maxey. “To me, the 9060 is a classic NB silhouette, so I pulled a lot of inspiration from that to bring lifestyle to the basketball court. I worked really closely with the New Balance product team to make sure the shoe looks good and feels good on and off the court. I’m really excited for people to test it out!”
That is a sensible design brief. Plenty of basketball footwear performs perfectly well while resembling something rescued from the engineering department of a small spacecraft. The Maxey v1 is trying to retain some off-court credibility without becoming merely a lifestyle shoe wearing a vest.
Maxey v1 technology: built for speed and lateral movement
Underneath the styling is a more serious collection of performance features.
New Balance has fitted the shoe with a dual rail plate system, intended to assist forward propulsion while providing support during quick lateral movements. Responsive FuelCell cushioning handles the underfoot component, while a centreline flex groove is designed to let the shoe move naturally through changes of direction.
That combination makes sense for the type of movement associated with a quick guard: accelerate, brake, cut, repeat until somebody’s defensive dignity requires medical attention.
The heel has been sculpted for a more refined fit, with added volume through the midfoot and arch intended to produce a secure, locked-in sensation. Sculpted outriggers provide additional lateral containment, complemented by multidirectional traction running from heel to toe.
None of those claims can sensibly be treated as a verdict until the shoe has been tested independently on court, but the specification gives a reasonably clear picture of the intended customer. This is not being presented as a lumbering stability shoe. Mobility is the central theme.
Kevin Trotman, Senior Product Manager for New Balance Basketball, describes the balance the company has attempted to strike.
“The Maxey v1 is an exciting addition to our New Balance basketball lineup, designed by Tyrese with the modern hooper in mind,” says Kevin Trotman, Senior Product Manager for New Balance Basketball. “The shoe delivers high-level traction and performance while pairing it with a caged upper design language, that feels current, yet avant-garde.”
New Balance Maxey v1: Pros and Cons
Pros
- Speed-focused construction: the dual rail plate and flex groove are designed around quick forward and lateral movement.
- FuelCell cushioning: a familiar New Balance cushioning platform is being used to provide responsiveness underfoot.
- Lateral containment: sculpted outriggers and multidirectional traction address the demands of abrupt cuts and direction changes.
- Distinctive design: references to the 9060 and 2002 give the shoe a stronger connection to New Balance’s lifestyle identity.
- Accessible signature-shoe pricing: the announced UK price is £119.99.
Cons
- Specifications are not the same thing as court testing.
- Styling will divide opinion: the sculpted, caged appearance is hardly shy.
- Only the launch colourway is detailed so far: buyers wanting alternatives will need to wait for subsequent releases.
Who Is This Best For?
On specification alone, the Maxey v1 is most obviously aimed at guards and other players who favour quick cuts, changes of pace and multidirectional movement.
Players who value lateral support but dislike footwear that feels unnecessarily cumbersome may also find the design proposition interesting, although fit and underfoot feel will require proper testing before stronger claims can be made.
The crossover styling is another part of the calculation. Maxey explicitly wanted something capable of looking credible beyond the court, and the references to the 9060 make that ambition fairly difficult to miss.
The launch colourway combines a black base with vivid blue accents. It has already appeared on court during the 2026 Play-In Tournament, with further colourways scheduled to follow during the year.
Is the New Balance Maxey v1 worth £119.99?
At £119.99, the Maxey v1 presents a fairly straightforward proposition: a first signature shoe built around Maxey’s movement profile, equipped with FuelCell cushioning and wrapped in styling intended to look unmistakably New Balance.
Whether it deserves a place in a player’s rotation will ultimately depend on the details that specifications cannot settle — traction on different surfaces, lockdown, cushioning response over a full session and how that sculpted structure behaves during violent changes of direction.
Those answers can wait for court testing.
For now, the Maxey v1 succeeds at the first job of any signature shoe: it has a recognisable identity and an obvious connection to the player whose name is printed inside it. In a footwear market containing no shortage of noise, being identifiable from across the gym is not a bad opening move.
The New Balance Maxey v1 launches worldwide on 2 October for £119.99 through newbalance.com and selected retailers.
Maxey wanted a shoe that did not need the “N” to announce itself. He may have got one.
