Unless you are Tom Hanks’ ‘Cast Away’ the new Spalding ball is your perfect gift this December 25th.
Wilson…R.I.P.
Celebrating ‘125 Hoop Years’ (get your hash-tags ready Instagrammers), Spalding are releasing a commemorative ball and no lie its beautiful.
Coated in a matt-black, tar heavy, black-top ready look with a metallic gold leaf finish, this perfectly packaged gift is the one thing you’ll really want to find under you tree come weeks end. Forget the socks…unless its Stance.
Yet alas this coal sphere will only be delivered by Santa to special players, coaches, fans and media (ahem) who have given a lot to this game.
Humbug!
You can guarantee Spalding endorsees DeMar DeRozan of the Toronto Raptors, Portland Trail-Blazers, Damian Lillard and new signee Chris Paul of the Los Angeles Clippers will be amongst the elite complimentary figures of this sport signing for some mail in the next 2 to 3 working days.
And we can only guess gold names like Michael, Kobe and even Silver will be on the mailing list also for the 125 receiptents (we’ll have ours when Spalding celebrates its 1000 anniversary (yeah right…we wish!)).
But for this brand’s that has been around courts almost as long as Canadian innovator James Naismith who invented this game (or at least since the 1894 days when they took the bottom out of the peach basket for obvious, even then long over-due convenience), this century and a quarter anniversary is something to behold. Something celebrated with class.
Gift-wrapped in a Gatsby art deco black designer box that Tom could afford, this isn’t high-end fashion but hoop heaven for those as pure to the game as Spalding is loyal.
Over 100 years strong this limited edition black leather is the perfect souveneir for a classic, if it aint broke dont fix it (hello early 2000’s), unchanged look (save the 2006 synthetic dud ball that cut up more hands than Iverson did defences) for a peach ball for Naismith’s basket that has always spun the same around the world. A ball design as classic and timeless as the original Converse…basketballs first sneaker before Michael Jordan jumped over Chuck Taylor with all his Nike Air.
More than a game. This symbol of the sport of basketball was more than a ball.
The same ball that Havlicek caught. The same ball that Magic put between his legs and behind the back without ever looking once. And the same ball that the greatest used to take his last shot and three-peat championship. The same ball which you scored your first basket with in your back-yard over your pops.
That very same ball that honours the game like all the true believers.
