PEAK Delly 1s: Do Matthew Dellavedova’s signature shoes ‘witness gritness’?

After months of anticipation, Behind The Bucks Pass’ own Tim Wray finally got his hands on a pair of Milwaukee Bucks guard Matthew Dellavedova‘s new signature shoe, the PEAK Sport Delly 1s, and took them for a test drive to see if they measure up.

Michael Jordan. Kobe Bryant. LeBron James. And the Milwaukee Bucks’ own Matthew Dellavedova.

That’s right, Delly. No more slapping duct tape over the Nike swoosh, the Australian is now lacing up his own signature shoes for the daily grind.

Say g’day to the PEAK Sport Delly 1s.

Having signed an exclusive deal with the Chinese sportswear company last June, who also sponsor Dwight Howard and Tony Parker, Dellavedova becomes the first Milwaukee Buck since Brandon Jennings (Under Armour) to release a pair of kicks. Well, at least until Nike (or Jordan?) get their act together and reach a deal with Giannis Antetokounmpo to start crafting the Greek Freak I.

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Unless you can count Andrew Gaze’s almighty Dunlop clogs, which may or may not still be available in the local K-Mart’s bargain bin, Delly is also the only Australian player to ever design his own shoe outside of the NIKEiD website. Before you #WellActually, this does mean that I have stopped clinging onto the small glimmer of hope that Kyrie Irving still calls Australia home.

Initial plans were to launch the shoe late-last year on the heels of what can now be remembered as the ‘Summer of Delly‘, which of course featured an NBA Championship with the Cleveland Cavaliers, a gallant Olympic campaign, new four-year $38.4 million contract, plans for a Hollywood biopic, and was capped off with some beer pong and a few quiet Coronas.

However, production was delayed whilst Delly worked meticulously with PEAK to develop a Cinderella-like fit. After extensive wear-tests, specification revisions and refinements to prototypes, the Bucks guard eventually debuted the final model in a ‘Like Mike’ seven-point, five-rebound and 12-assist performance against the New Orleans Pelicans on November 10.

On the process, PEAK Australia Chief Executive Greg Bickley told ESPN Australia:

"“We’d developed a shoe which was what he wanted – it was low and fast, close to the ground, and modelled on the type of shoes that he’d been wearing for many years.”"

Pre-orders for the Delly 1 opened on Australia Day (January 26th) and whilst Gus Johnson was terrorizing the Dellavedova bobblehead’s ankles on air, I put my fiscal faith in Outback Jesus.

A short three-months later, a shiny pair showed up on my doorstep. Following a week of vigorous (questionable) testing at my local basketball court (an asphalt wasteland), the Delly 1s true grit was put under the microscope…

Author’s Note: Behind The Buck Pass is not affiliated with PEAK Sport is any capacity. The following is a completely genuine review. Please excuse my relatively little knowledge about the intricacies of basketball shoe culture. That being said, I can confirm that I do in fact wear shoes, play basketball on a regular basis and have a fairly good idea of who Matthew Dellavedova is, so you’re in good hands.