Kawhi Leonard is set to begin his quest for a second straight NBA title this week with as many teams when the Clippers take on the Mavericks in the first round of the playoffs in Orlando, beginning with Game 1 on Monday night.
A year after helping lead the Raptors to a stunning championship, Leonard is now back in the West with L.A. and has a team many consider to be co-favorites with the Lakers and Bucks. To celebrate the beginning of Leonard’s playoffs, New Balance announced Monday that his first signature sneaker with the brand, the KAWHI, would be making its first public release on Thursday, August 20 with a “Four Bounces” colorway, inspired by his iconic shot against the Sixers in Game 7 of last year’s conference semis.
The black, blue, and gold colorway features inspiration from Leonard’s life, from his hometown of Moreno Valley, CA (with the latitude and longitude coordinates on the heel) to his favorite car, where the quilted heel tab grabs inspiration from, and will retail for $160. The KAWHI features much of the same FuelCell cushioning tech as the OMN1S, but with the addition a full length nylon plate for stability and bounce and a Kinetic Stitch upper.
The sneaker features his new logo on the front and his signature on the back above the NB logo. Along with the KAWHI sneaker release, a full line of Kawhi branded apparel is also dropping on NewBalance.com as well as slide sandals and a special Four Bounces New Balance 850 in the same colorway.
The sneaker has a solid look in what should be, given the rave reviews of the OMN1S as a performance sneaker, a high quality hoops shoe and some of the apparel releases — all of which fit firmly in Leonard’s commitment to the Cozy Boys lifestyle — are very strong.