New Balance reveals new basketball collab with LA lifestyle brand "Bricks & Wood"

03/30/2025 09:01 PM

Over the last month New Balance announced their partnership with Bricks & Wood last month, launching a brand new shoe in the process.

As part of New Balance's collaboration with the L.A.-based lifestyle brand, NB officially released the Fresh Foam BB v3 — the latest evolution to a staple shoe in the brand's performance line. The black and yellow colorways of the Fresh Foam BB v3 are a nod to the last time the Bay Area hosted NBA All-Star weekend back in 2000.

The updated Fresh Foam BB v3 is built for every area of the game, with dynamic materials focused on comfort, support and stability. An updated cushioned heel pocket provides a supportive lockdown fit and maximum comfort to keep athletes fresh through all four quarters. Additional colorways of the Fresh Foam BB v3 will retail for $130 starting in April and continue throughout the season.

ClutchPoints recently sat down with Kevin Trotman, New Balance’s product manager for both shoes, to break down how the collaboration came together, why it was important, and what’s in the future for New Balance.

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Tomer Azarly: Here with Kevin Trotman of New Balance at the Bricks & Wood Activation at All-Star Weekend. First of all, what’s been your role in this New Balance—Bricks & Wood collaboration?

Kevin Trotman: Yeah, absolutely! So I was the product manager on both shoes, and so basically my job was to communicate with not only Kacey [Lynch] with the design and what he wanted to do, but also with our internal partners in the factory to make sure that the shoe and the design that Kacey wanted to bring to life actually came to life. And so when it comes to pricing, a lot of the nuances of the product, I’m inputting all of that and I’m setting those targets and things of that nature.

Tomer Azarly: So how did this New Balance—Bricks & Wood collaboration start?

Kevin Trotman: It was really birthed from really wanting to just kind of extend, grow, and amplify our partnership with Bricks & Wood. And I think for us, making sure that knowing the brand is kind of doubling down on the basketball category and really making sure that we’re investing in the category, we wanted to have a presence at All-Star Weekend. We haven’t had a presence since 2020, so we wanted to make sure that we did it with a partner that made sense. And Bricks & Wood being a California brand, a South Central L.A. brand, we thought it made sense.

Tomer Azarly: With regards to the history with Bricks & Wood, where did that start and why did you say this year was the year we’re going to go with the yellow kind of Golden State-ish colorway? Like why was this the year?

Kevin Trotman: Yeah, so I mean the first part of your question just around Bricks & Wood: I mean, I think from the inception and how the relationship really got started, we wanted to make sure that we had a presence in L.A. We didn’t have many partners at that point. This is back in 2020 when we initially started having conversations with them. And we didn’t have many L.A. partners, and so we wanted to make sure that we were covering our base with someone that felt authentic and also felt like we can coexist in the same space. And a lot of things that Kacey stands for, as a brand and as a man, is something that I think as a brand, we also stand for. So it really made sense for us to work together. And then for this, I think, you know, for the shoe, I think for the colorways, the black and yellow, it’s really kind of just paying homage to the Bay Area and the history there. And we wanted to make sure that when we were creating the product, it felt fresh, it felt new, and it felt like it had energy. And so that’s why this Fresh Foam BB v3 is bright yellow with small accents of black. We really wanted it to pop versus the 1000 to where it’s primarily black with some accents of yellow, just kind of creating that duality.

Tomer Azarly: So you said, I was told this is like the first shoe that has the Fresh Foam BB V3. Is that correct?

Kevin Trotman: Yes. So this is the updated version. Yeah. So this will be, so this is the exclusive first look at this new model that we’re launching within our category. So we’ll release more in-line colorways down the line. But this is the first look at the model itself.

Tomer Azarly: Why was it important to go into like, you know, make a basketball show and go the athletic way? New Balance has a lot of great streetwear attire, but you guys have made big strides to become more of a sportswear.

Kevin Trotman: For sure. Yeah. I mean, as a brand that’s rooted in running and athletics in general, we want to make sure that we are and we do have a presence in other categories besides running. And with basketball, there’s a lot of room for growth in basketball. And I think the state of where the category is as a whole, there’s a lot of opportunity. And we’re taking our swing and making sure that whatever we’re doing, it’s going to feel authentically us.

Tomer Azarly: What were some of the biggest updates in the Fresh Foam BB v3 that you guys kind of felt were needed or what made it in that?

Kevin Trotman: For sure, for sure. I would say initially and probably the biggest thing that is an update is we have a full-length plate under here, under the outsole, and it really gives a propulsive feeling. And then I would say the second part is these TPU shanks that are on the midsole on both sides for stability when you’re cutting laterally. So really having that lateral containment solve was one of the big things as well that we wanted to make an update on.

Tomer Azarly: What were some of the feedback you got, because I feel like a lot of shoes have to cut where they go in like that, but it’s also, like I haven’t seen a lot of these on both sides. What was some of the feedback you got from anyone who tested it, players, whatever, about those kind of things?

Kevin Trotman: Yeah, for sure. To be honest, the feedback was great. And I think one of the things about the Fresh From that’s pretty interesting is it’s super plush and it’s really, really soft. It has a really soft underfoot, given the Fresh From, obviously. But at the same time, with this TPU shank that we have, we didn’t get any feedback around it being too stiff or too hard, which is something that we were just making sure that we wanted to consider when going into creating a TPU shank to be on not just one side, but both sides. But yeah, the feedback was great around that.

Tomer Azarly: So what can you tell us about what you guys have planned next?

Kevin Trotman: Yeah. I mean, there’s a lot of things. There’s a lot of things. What can I say that won’t get me in trouble haha?

I think as time goes on, you’re going to see a lot more models from the basketball category. We have about three right now, but you’re going to see us expand our line and you’re going to see us diversify the type of player that we’re targeting. So there’s going to be, there’s going to be some high profile shoes. There’ll be some low profile shoes. I think we just want to make sure that we have a plethora of offerings that still feel, again, still feels like us. But we can cover our bases in terms of who’s looking to grab basketball shoes from us.

Tomer Azarly: Now, this is obviously a final product. How many different drafts, versions, how many years? Like, walk me through that process? Was there one where you like, we think this is close, but it’s not exactly like it?

Kevin Trotman: For sure. Yeah. So with Performance Footwear, it’s a little different than Lifestyle Footwear, right? So there’s a lot of wear testing that goes into the process. So, for instance, a lifestyle shoe, if it’s a silhouette that is not particularly a made in USA shoe or a typical lifestyle shoe, if it’s a performance piece of footwear, there’s a lot of wear testing that goes into it. And so a typical lifespan in terms of the product creation process is probably around 24 months, so about two years from when we’re briefing in the actual product to when it’s going to be on shelf. And a lot of that again has to do with, 1. Wear testing. We’re not just wear testing, ‘does the shoe feel comfortable?’ It’s, ‘is this material going to last after hours and hours of pounding on a court,’ and that takes a bunch of testing and so there’s a lot that goes into performance footwear that doesn’t typically go into like our lifestyle shoes.

Tomer Azarly: What was behind the name of the collaboration, ‘A Different Bounce.’ What was the inspiration behind that?

Kevin Trotman: So the name of the collection is ‘A Different Bounce,’ and that really was kind of birthed from the the on and off core duality of what the game of basketball brings and so Kacey Lynch, the owner of Bricks & Wood, is a former basketball player. I was a former basketball player as well, and we both really connected on life after basketball and the idea that you can still have a hand in basketball without playing the game and so this is our take at that. So ‘A Different Bounce,’ is okay you might not be bouncing a ball up and down the court but I’m a product manager on basketball shoes so we’re still getting that fulfillment of the game, it’s just in a different way. I think that’s something that we really wanted to make sure that you know you had a basketball shoe but we also had a lifestyle shoe with it as well. That duality of ‘A Different Bounce,’ that’s kind of where things started.

Tomer Azarly: And then I heard you guys also held a community event as part of All-Star Weekend?

Kevin Trotman: Yeah, so ahead of All-Star, we went to a Potrero Hill Recreation Center to partner with a bunch of middle school and high school kids in the local area, and we had them do drills, we had them play some games, and they had a photo booth where they could take their photo and make a trading card of themselves, but I think one of the best parts of the night was really that the post playing and sitting down and hearing Kacey speak. So Kacey took the kids through a workshop to where, it was really just asking them questions about how they felt about the state of the basketball culture, the state of culture in general, and then we got into some of the the topics that I was just speaking about with, ‘A Different Bounce.’ Of, ‘okay you may not make it to the league, but there’s still many ways that you can be involved in the game,’ and so a lot of those conversations were had last night and it was really great to see the kids start to open up about themselves and kind of where they see themselves in the state of culture in general. It was it was an important thing that I think, again, when you’re talking about having a community aspect that makes the collection feel whole, that was the personification of that.

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