The idea almost seems obvious now, but it was only a matter of time before New Balance went into their vault of classic lifestyle shoes to borrow some ideas for an innovative new project. That project is the BB9000, the latest sneaker from New Balance Basketball, which was unveiled on Tuesday as a fusion between vintage style and modern basketball technology.

In a little less than two years, New Balance has re-entered the basketball sneaker scene and completely hit the ground running. In that time frame, the brand has introduced performance basketball shoes into their line like the OMNIS, which was later developed into a low-top model; the KAWHI, Kawhi Leonard's first signature shoe with the brand; the TWO WXY, the go-to sneaker for athletes such as Jamal Murray, Dejounte Murray and Darius Bazley.

The BB9000 uses the same FuelCell technology as those New Balance basketball sneakers, but the design goes a step beyond the court to include hints from the brand's most classic lifestyle silhouettes. Elements from the New Balance 1300 and 574 models are incorporated into the BB9000 while the retro look gets inspiration from the 480 and 550 models.

"With the BB9000, we wanted to create something that stayed true to our roots but wasn't afraid to push the boundaries," said Samuel Pearce, creative design manager at New Balance. "We wanted to tell the story of our past but merge it with current hoops streetstyle, allowing consumers to take it from the court to the streets. We feel like the shoe we've created pushes basketball shoes into a new space and witnesses our performance innovation through a new lifestyle lens."

You can expect New Balance athletes Kawhi Leonard, Jamal Murray, Dejounte Murray and Darius Bazley to wear the BB9000 as an in-the-tunnel look heading into their next big game.

The BB9000 will hit retailers on April 1 with a price tag of $140. Additional colorways will hit the market throughout the rest of 2021.