The Problem With The NBA's New Basketball

The NBA has a new basketball and it’s airless, but it could break the NBA. #nba

This is the NBA’s new basketball and it’s airless which means you never have to pump it cause it’s full of holes, but players have a history with ball changes not going so well, causing airballs, anger, and bleeding so what’s the big deal about this new futuristic looking basketball that looks like it can’t be used outdoors and why does the NBA want to risk all that again? We’re going to find out because this basketball might break the NBA and how we play basketball forever. The answer might surprise you since the NBA’s basketball has changed a lot through the years, from a a soccer ball in 1881 to the full grain leather Spalding basketball in 1983. Most recently the NBA changed the ball in 2021 and in the beginning of the season, players were missing shots badly…

The basketball stayed the same material. When the NBA last changed materials, there was an even worse reaction but let’s understand what this new basketball is made of because these new ones are going to be 3D printed out of an elastomeric polymer, basically something similar in molecular structure to natural rubbers. The ball still has the 8 panels like a traditional basketball, including seams, but oh yeah, it has hexagonal holes.

The biggest challenge was for it to bounce similar to other basketballs. The way current basketballs work, when a basketball makes contract with the ground, it compresses which pushes against the air inside the ball. The air pushes back against the ground depending on the level of air pressure and the ball bounces back up.

But without air pressure, these new basketballs are more like those small bouncy balls, when the ball hits the ground, the polymer chains in rubber uncoil and straighten kind of like a spring which causes the ball to bounce back up. Wilson took several years to find the right material that gives a consistent bounce similar to current basketballs. The main advantage of this type of basketball is that you don’t have to worry about a basketball deflating or popping.

According to Wilson, they have rigorously tested the basketball, including swinging at the ball with a baseball bat, ensuring that the basketball is durable, but they are hoping to avoid the mistakes that happened 17 years ago. The last time the NBA made a change so drastic using science was in 2006. The NBA changed from leather to microfiber composite and it broke the NBA. They also stated that these new basketballs would remove the break in period a basketball needs, but just 1 month into the season, players already had some things to say like Shaq who said “it feels like one of those cheap balls you buy at the store” and that whoever did this needs to be fired. MVP Steve Nash said “it tears his fingers apart”. LeBron rival Deshawn Stevenson said “I HATE IT”.

NBA’s best shooter at the time Ray Allen said “I have to constantly put lotion all over my hands because my fingers are cracking and it’s causing splits on my fingertips”. Wait, from a basketball?And he wasn’t the only one. Jason Terry showed reporters what looked like paper cuts on their fingers, Dirk said it made his hands bleed. Eddy Curry said it stuck to his middle finger.

Mark Cuban, the owner of the Dallas Mavericks, wasn’t convinced by the NBA saying the ball was performing extraordinarily well and commissioned physicists from the University of Texas to test the ball and what he found proved the NBA was lying. The Cross Traxxion ball retained more frictive dirt and was slippier when it absorbed any moisture like sweat, but perhaps the worst of it all, they found the ball bounced 5-8% less than the old one, and was 30% more erratic in how it bounced.

Certain shot release angles means different velocities of the ball on it’s descent, essentially the slower a ball hits the rim, the softer the touch. Think those Nikola Jokic floaters and hooks shots around the rim. But if these new balls will have different velocities in the air due to smaller surface area and less air resistance, then players will also have to modify their shots to get that same soft touch.

Which leads to my third issue, dirt and sweat can get deposited inside the basketball and change the play of the ball over time. It could make air flow through the ball a bit different, the ball a bit more lopsided even the slightest because of that lattice structure with holes, related to my 4th issue, how will the elastic polymers lattice pattern impact grip? With less surface area, less contact points for your fingers, and in an NBA game, every small percentage plays a role. I mean we’ve seen players not be able to pick up the ball ****************************and that could get worse. Does this mean we’re going to see more turnovers?

[mjkallday]

Do you like this new ball…pause?
Twitter- @MJ2KALLDAY

[yiogbuy]

Wilson is keen to make sure that everyone knows this is just a prototype, noting that "there will be no changes made to the Wilson NBA official game ball." The company added that it will continue to be built from the same leather materials and using the same panel configuration that everyone is so familiar with.

[CrossWindsPat]

Im not an aerodynamic engineer but I think this design will create quite a bit more drag then a regular ball. It creates tons of turbulence instead of just displacing the air. Also there is no Magnus effect so it wont float as well. Look it up.

[sollytom]

It reminds me of the whiffle balls back when I was in grade school, which were designed to NOT go far. Those holes vastly increase surface area, which makes drag. Who else noticed that when the manufacturer showed their ball being thrown to a basket, they never showed the actual throw? I suspect this ball will behave in ways the players won't like.

[tleevz]

I don't ever think I've heard anyone say, 'You know basketball would be way better with a wiffle ball.'

[sleepyheadz]

Wilson announced there'll be options of Air Pro and Air Pro Max soon. Upgrades include internal drone adaptor to greatly improve your shooting percentages from 94 ft. Now everyone can shoot Steffortlessly.
For those who prefer a more traditional feel without tech upgrades, they also have a new lineup called Tom Hanks Wilsons. You can even bring it to the beach.

[djnone]

Nothing beats those old school leather plush indoor only basketballs. It gave you such a feel and finesse.

[Beardsandbars]

Click bait…NBA has zero plans to use this ball.

[Clockeman]

I'm not sure about the airflow decreasing resistance...air flowing into the ball and past the holes on the sides perpendicular to the direction of travel could have all kinds of weird effects. I mean the DIMPLES on the current ball have an effect...just like on a golf ball. I doubt this will fly...pardon the pun.

[corners]

A massive case of don't try to fix things that aint broke

[ainbo]

NBA is being dumb that ball has no weight to it. All those holes flying through the air The players are going to be missing a lot more if they use this ball

[leonhardeuler]

The lack of air resistance is a big deal. Air resistance causes the ball to fall more sharply than the angle that it was thrown at, meaning it is easier to make it go through the hoop. If it's coming in at a flatter angle, then there will be more misses and it feels like luck will be a bigger factor which is bad for the sport. More practically, for the kids that buy this ball and inevitably use it outside, it seems like there is a strong possibility of it picking up stones and pebbles of the right size to not quite be able to get out of through the holes that it entered the ball, which could damage the ball and cause a safety hazard like getting flicked up into someone's eye.

[christiantretter]

I was under the assumption that the surface would be covered like a normal basketball, and the black structure would be used under the normal exterior of a basketball.

[THNNMd]

All they have to do is use the airless ball as a base and wrap it in the same material they use now then you have the perfect airless ball.

[narial]

I think it’s a cool idea to make the balls more accessible to people around the world that may not have access to traditional basketballs, but it seems totally unnecessary for the NBA to use these

[falnica]

The structure of this video is really weird. It's like it keeps restarting over and over and it never gets to the interesting part

[minty]

there’s no way this could be a good thing. having holes will completely change the aerodynamics and with that shooting is not at all the same

[denizkendirci]

decision go airless is not a bad idea if they can calibrate ball's responses properly (weight, bounce, elasticity to touch etc). but i think it should be better with without the holes, because it changes the aerodynamics drastically and the feeling will be completely different, thus it won't be a nice transition curve from old to new.

[TeamStudNation]

Everyone in the NBA gonna lose a finger if these airless balls do become a thing

[jhs-law]

When you start messing with something that works, the odds are overwhelming that you're going to make it worse, not better.