Cooper Flagg debuts the New Balance Hesi Low v2 PE tonight against the Spurs

The Dallas Mavericks will begin their 2025-26 regular season on Wednesday night when they host the San Antonio Spurs. It’s going to be a big night for Cooper Flaggwhich is set to made his long-awaited NBA debut in a special edition pair of New Balance kicks.

Flagg, the number one overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft, will make his NBA debut on Wednesday night and will do so in his own PE. On Wednesday, New Balance officially released the Hessy Low v2 X Cooper Flagg, an exclusive colorway of New Balance’s popular basketball model inspired by Cooper’s Maine roots and the natural beauty of his home state. The colorway became available for retail on Wednesday, October 22nd in honor of Flag’s debut.

In a statement, Cooper Flagg broke down the inspiration behind its exclusive gamer color.

“I’m taking the next step in my career, but I’ll always be a product of my hometown in Maine,” Flagg said. “Working with the New Balance design team on this was really cool and allows me to bring a piece of Newport with me as I take the court for my first official NBA game.”

Draft number 1 is ready for day 1. Introducing Hesi Lov v2 k @Cooper_Flagg.

Available on 22.10. pic.twitter.com/pHbK2k1LVk

— New Balance (@nevbalance) October 16, 2025

Flagg joins a Dallas Mavericks team fresh off the shock trade of Luka Doncic in February. The No. 1 overall pick is in a rare and excellent position to develop both as an individual player and contribute to the win. But he also doesn’t put pressure on himself to be anyone’s, “savior.”

“No, not really,” Flagg said. “For me, I feel like the opportunity that I’ve been given and that I’ve put in this year has taken a lot of pressure off me.

“We’re a really deep team, I think that takes a lot of pressure off me … To just be myself and not worry about the expectations of being like anybody else, just being me and helping this team win as much as I can.”

During ESPN’s pregame show, Inside the NBA, Kenny Smith and Charles Barkley spoke highly of the 18-year-old Maine product and Mavericks rookie.

“It’s interesting that because he went to that school in Durham and played on that high school circuit, I saw him a lot,” Kenny Smith said of Cooper Flagg. “And he’s been a better defender than he’s been offensively for a long time. I thought, ‘man, this guy can block shots, he rebounds, he gives you our rhythm,’ so if you add that to his offensive arsenal . . .”

“Magic Johnson is the only player who came into the NBA as a ‘guy’ who was in a better situation than Cooper Flagg. When Magic went to the Lakers, they had all these other great players. Like Shaq said, every second pick in the draft goes to a bad team. Magic came into the league in a great situation. Can you think of any other number one champion in the draft who was ready for champion cooper, except champion? There is no other player who has come in and can win the championship. This is the first time a number one draft pick has come up and you’re like, “they can actually win a championship this year.”

Cooper Flagg played in all four of the Mavericks’ preseason games, impressing with his versatility, scoring ability and playmaking. In his four appearances, Flagg averaged 11.3 points, 4.5 rebounds, 2.8 assists, 1.3 steals and 0.8 blocks in just 21.7 minutes per game.

At a 36-minute pace, that would project Flagg to average 18.7 points, 7.5 rebounds, 4.6 assists, 2.1 steals and 1.2 blocks per game.