Wilson Sporting Goods Co., in partnership with the National Basketball Association has just unveiled the league’s new official game ball in advance of the NBA’s 75th anniversary season. The reveal tips off a multiyear partnership, welcoming the NBA’s first official basketball manufacturer – Wilson – back to the game.
The Wilson NBA official game ball is comprised of the same materials, eight-panel configuration and performance specifications as the league’s current game balls and sources the same leather currently used in the NBA. Over the past year, the NBA and the National Basketball Players Association worked jointly with Wilson to develop and approve the new game ball through team evaluation sessions. The game ball features the iconic NBA and Wilson logos in full grain pebbling, with the Wilson logo also including an anthracite inline.
“Wilson is excited to unlock our history and heritage with the NBA to grow the game of basketball on the global stage,” said Kevin Murphy, General Manager, Wilson Team Sports. “On the heels of launching our WNBA and BAL partnerships, we will continue building for the future of the sport. Wilson will focus first on supporting the league and its players with its high-performance game balls, then extending our basketball family to reach fans, coaches and players at all levels, around the world.”
“Our partnership with Wilson fittingly comes to life as we approach our 75th anniversary season,” said Salvatore LaRocca, NBA President, Global Partnerships. “As the NBA’s official game ball for the league’s first 37 seasons, Wilson makes its return building on our shared history and looking ahead toward the continued growth of the league.”
Wilson’s NBA official game ball will make its on-court debut at the Microsoft Surface NBA Draft Combine 2021, scheduled to take place Monday, June 21 through Sunday, June 27. The game ball will be available for purchase exclusively on wilson.com in the U.S. beginning July 29, in alignment with the NBA Draft 2021 presented by State Farm. Additional NBA-licensed Wilson products will be made available through key retail partners globally including NBAStore.com, Amazon and others throughout the summer.
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Photo Credit: Vasilyev Alexandr / Shutterstock.com
