Spalding Is Recreating Their Original Basketball from More Than a Century Ago

Spalding is an American sporting goods company founded in the last quarter of the 1800s. The sport of Basketball was founded not too many years later at the end of the 1800s. Spalding founder A.G. Spalding produced the first basketball for official use in 1894, and the brand is celebrating the 125th anniversary of that milestone by reproducing the original ball that started the legacy that would span centuries. Each 29.5″ ball is crafted from high-quality Horween Leather and includes the original A.G. Spalding & Bros trademark, along with the “No. M” stamp to denote it’s a game ball. This tribute ball pays homage to the one created at the request of Dr. James Naismith–If you’re not familiar, he’s the founder of basketball. You can learn all about the fascinating history of the sport in this 99 Percent Invisible podcast–and is limited to 125 pieces. The ball is available only to Spalding VIP members during the current NBA finals, so head over to their site below to try to claim one for yourself.