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How does the nba break in their basketballs


NBA Playoffs - A game ball's road to the NBA Finals

Jun 8, 2015

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OAKLAND, Calif. -- From slaughterhouses across North America to a family-run tannery on Chicago's North Side. From a manufacturing facility in China to an Alabama warehouse for testing. Then, finally, to all 30 teams.

Every summer a fresh batch of official NBA basketballs arrives, crisp and orange and brand new. But before one can enter an NBA game, a choice must be made.

With about 16 minutes left on the game clock Sunday prior to tipoff in the Cleveland Cavaliers' Game 2 win over the Golden State Warriors, officiating crew chief Tony Brothers jogged onto the court at Oracle Arena with three basketballs in his hands.

Brothers walked toward where the Cavaliers players were warming up and nodded at LeBron James, who walked over. James took the balls one at a time, looking each one over, rolling them in his hands, squeezing them, dribbling one. Then James pointed to one and nodded.

Minutes later, it was the Warriors' turn. Stephen Curry inspected each ball, rolling them in his hands, dribbling each a few times.

"If it's on a scale of 1 to 10, with one being brand new to 10 being the ball that Jerry West used to play with, I like it at a 6," Curry said earlier this week. "More on the broken-in side. It's softer."

The players had agreed on a selection, and Brothers walked toward the scorer's table with all three balls and told an official which would be the game ball -- and indeed, it was far more worn than new, with its share of scratches. The other two balls: backups.

Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson's perfect jumpshots start with the perfect basketball. Cliff Hawkins/Getty Images

To those watching at home, the ball is probably an afterthought -- just a spherical blur zipping around the floor. But to players, and especially point guards, the smallest details matter.

Before home games, the Oklahoma City Thunder's top security representative will personally deliver the game ball to star point guard Russell Westbrook in the locker room. Westbrook then takes it, inspects it, rubs it, dribbles it, holds it, smells it and, after approving it, passes it to each of his teammates, a sacred ceremony before the players circle up and sprint out of the tunnel.

The league's history is littered with such tales, especially of how far some players go to make sure the game ball is precisely to their liking.

This is the story of game balls, from their calculated creation all the way to their NBA debuts -- and then what they face once there.

In a warren of brick buildings spanning four acres on the North Branch of the Chicago River, Skip Horween carries on the family business. The Horween Leather Company is in its fourth generation since Isadore Horween, Skip's great grandfather, founded it in 1905.

The 150-employee operation is one of the oldest continually running leather tanneries in the country, the only one in Chicago, and also the exclusive supplier of the cowhide leather used to make official NFL and NBA game balls.

Horween's deal with the NFL is decades old; its deal with the NBA is only about a decade old, after gaining it from a family-run tannery in Pennsylvania. But it wasn't an easy acquisition.

For 11 years, Horween sent samples to Spalding, the official game ball of the NBA since 1983, and each time they were told it wasn't good enough. Some were too slippery, others too sticky. "We'd fix one thing, then cause another problem," said Skip, president of Horween. "It took us a long time to get it right."

One reason Spalding eventually partnered with Horween is because the balls broke in much quicker and were ready for game play significantly faster with its leather. Before, that process took six months; now, it takes two, said Paul Sullivan, senior vice president of Spalding.

Horween, which has operated out of the same factory since 1920, receives shipments of about 3,000 cattle hides a week, largely from slaughterhouses in Iowa and Ontario, Canada. Once they arrive, the hides go through a nearly three-week process.

"[NBA players] are good enough to feel the most subtle difference in the product. They might not necessarily tell you what's different but they can tell you that it is different almost instantaneously. That's a big challenge on our part." Skip Horween

Hair is removed, hides are selected, split to the desired thickness, re-tanned in large rotating drums, then dried, finished to customers specifications and sent off to be cut and sewn. A 1,000-ton press with German-made embossing plates gives the leather its distinct pebbling.

And Skip, a Bulls fan who can wax nostalgic about the Michael Jordan era and how Chicago Stadium used to be a raucous madhouse, said attention to detail for the leather is vital.

"[NBA players] are good enough to feel the most subtle difference in the product," Skip said. "They might not necessarily tell you what's different but they can tell you that it is different almost instantaneously. That's a big challenge on our part. It becomes really important that we define what the leather is supposed to feel like and then try to get it like that every single time."

For example, the hides have to be devoid of scratches, scars or branding -- anything that might produce a subtle change in texture.

It takes about three to four square feet of leather per ball, and they'll ship off roughly 10,000 square feet of it four to five times per year to the manufacturer in China that Spalding has worked with for more than 20 years.

From there, each one takes about four days to come to life.

Roughly 3,200 yards of nylon winding from Japan is used to form the outside of an inflated bladder, producing the ball's inner carcass. Then the inner sphere is covered with rubber from Malaysia and Vietnam. Eight leather panels are then glued together by hand.

Once they're finished, balls are shipped via ocean freight to Alexander City, Alabama, the main campus of Russell Athletics, which acquired Spalding in 2003. That's where, during a process that lasts about three to four weeks, the testing begins. Balls are checked for diameter, weight and rebound -- so they're dropped from six feet and expected to bounce 52-56 inches high. Inflation: 8 PSI. Circumference: 29.50-29.75 inches.

The balls are also fed into one of two wooden wheels that catapult them into a maple wood plate -- most NBA hardwood floors are maple -- about six feet away. Each ball is bounced about 50 times to help, as Sullivan said, "wake up" the leather and start the break-in process.

Around the first week of July, 72 new balls come in, giving teams about two months to use them.

"It's the sweat from the athletes, the oils from their hands, the dirt from the court, all those things -- that's the only way to truly break in a leather basketball," Sullivan said. "We could run it through the bounce machine 500 times and it wouldn't do what the human play does to the leather cover material."

Back in the day, players like Jerry West preferred a much more broken-in basketball. Malcolm Emmons/USA TODAY Sports

If the balls weren't broken in, they'd be quite uncomfortable to play with, said Eric Housen, the Warriors' equipment/travel manager.

"If you take the new balls out of the box ... and you shoot for an hour, the tips of your fingers will be bloody, just because the thread is so new," Housen said. "Then, over time, the dirt that it picks up on the floor, the sweat, everything -- it starts to turn it brown. Right before it gets from orange to brown is kind of where they want to play."

Years ago, many players preferred balls some referred to as "whoppers" and "malt balls," named after the candies' color.

"The old-school guys -- they liked it dark," Housen said. "It would almost be black."

"Today's balls are hard and slick," said Jim Barnett, who played with seven teams from 1966-77 and has spent nearly the past three decades as the Warriors' television analyst. "We had old balls. They were soft. You could grip them. You can't grip these balls."

A longtime league executive said players would do most anything to keep preferred game balls in circulation -- marking them with dots, smiley faces, small skulls, an X -- to help them recognize it when officials brought it to them before a game. The executive said it wasn't unusual for teams to use worn-in game balls for all 41 home games.

"Look at some of the old playoff games," the executive said. "It's dark brown because those shooters love that nice, worn-down feel. Now, the ball has to look pristine because we're on TV, so they don't let those things hang around. The refs wouldn't even allow it to be in the pile. Now, I don't think you could get a ball through three or four games at the most."

If a ball was selected that some players didn't like, there could be issues. The executive recalled one point guard who so hated the game ball chosen one night that early in the first quarter of a home game, he "passed" it straight to a courtside fan who was holding a beer.

Naturally, beer spilled all over the ball, and it had to be replaced. "If he didn't like a ball, he wasn't going to keep it out there," the executive said.

Housen also recalled a player who stormed into the locker room after going 0-of-8 from the field in the first half: "Who picked the ball!?! That thing's a brick! What are you doing?!?"

It's not as though game balls from years ago were in great shape.

"Our balls used to be really crappy," Barnett said. To illustrate his point, Barnett cited his playing days with the Knicks in the mid-1970s.

"I had this Lexol leather cleaner and I would take a towel and put some of that stuff on it and clean the balls before a game because they were so freaking dirty. Then Earl Monroe and Walt Frazier would say, 'That's great. That's a lot better.'"

It was a colorful tweak to a few preseason games, but this ABA throwback didn't perform too well on the court. Courtesy NBA

The NBA celebrated the anniversary of the ABA by allowing some of its ex-ABA teams to use a red, white and blue ball -- similar to what was used in the now-defunct league -- during a mid-1990s preseason game.

"I have no idea if they dribbled these balls three times and said they're good to go or what, but by the end of the first quarter, the home team uniforms had red white and blue on them, the floor had red white and blue on it," the executive said. "As soon as it got wet, as soon as it got sweat on it, it was a clown show."

Another disaster occurred in 2006, when the NBA switched its official game ball to a microfiber composite that, it was said, would offer better grip, feel, consistency and "eliminates the need for a break-in period, which is a necessity for the current leather ball."

It marked the first change to a game ball in 35 years and only the second in 60 seasons.

And it was a complete failure.

Many star players complained that the balls were sticking to their hands, becoming lodged between the rim and backboard, and weren't able to absorb moisture like the leather ball. Steve Nash, then a Phoenix Suns point guard and two-time reigning MVP, wore bandages on his fingers because of cuts caused by the new ball.

"That ball, it was cutting guys up," the executive said. "I remember guys that season were trying to slip old game balls in and saying, 'Get rid of that f-----g ball and use the old ball!' Refs would always negate it, but they tried every single game."

The balls were only in circulation for two months before being pulled.

"I guess the biggest learning from that is getting the players involved in the process earlier if you're going to make a change like that," said Sullivan, of Spalding. "They aspire to play with that leather basketball, is what we learned."

The footballs didn't have enough air, and the NFL believed the New England Patriots -- and specifically star quarterback Tom Brady -- were to blame, all part of a scheme to gain an edge. So the league dropped the hammer, suspending him, fining the team and revoking draft picks in order to protect "the integrity of the game."

But long before "Deflategate," the practice of putting extra air in or letting it out of a game ball -- beyond the regulated amount -- was used by some of the NBA's biggest teams and stars.

Take Shaquille O'Neal, for instance.

"Sometimes, in the games during all my championship runs, if a ball was too hard, I let air out," the former All-Star center said in a recent episode of "The Big Podcast With Shaq." "I'd have a needle. A friend of mine would have a needle and I would get the game ball. ... I needed that extra grip, but I wasn't doing that for cheating purposes. I just needed the extra grip for my hands so I could palm it, a la Michael Jordan, the way he used to palm it.

O'Neal said he'd walk up to the ball rack before a game, "Get the ball, 'Tsssss' let a little bit of air out, squeeze it -- OK, good."

Was he cheating? He believes not.

"Because, first of all, I'm not aware of any letter of the law that says, you can't let air out of the ball," O'Neal said. "I'm not aware of that. Second of all, it's all about my [comfort level]. A lot of times, if the balls have too much air in them, they're too bouncy. I didn't want them to be bouncy. I needed that grip. "

His teammates didn't complain, either, he said.

"No," he said, "especially when you're winning,"

Phil Jackson admits he and his Knicks teammates would deflate game balls to gain an edge on the glass. ick Raphael/NBAE/Getty Images

O'Neal wasn't the first to follow that practice. Phil Jackson said he did so during his playing days with the early 1970s New York Knicks, including on their 1973 title team.

"What we used to do was deflate the ball," the Hall of Fame coach told the Chicago Tribune in a story published in 1986. "We were a short team with our big guys like Willis [Reed], our center, only about 6-8 and Jerry Lucas also 6-8, [Dave] DeBusschere, 6-6. So what we had to rely on was boxing out and hoping the rebound didn't go long.

"To help ensure that, we'd try to take some air out of the ball. You see, on the ball it says something like 'inflate to 7 to 9 pounds.' We'd all carry pins and take the air out to deaden the ball.

"It also helped our offense because we were a team that liked to pass the ball without dribbling it, so it didn't matter how much air was in the ball. It also kept other teams from running on us because when they'd dribble the ball, it wouldn't come up so fast."

Former Knicks radio play-by-play man Marv Albert told the New York Post that Knicks forward Bill Bradley personally deflated balls.

"Bill was so precise,'' Albert told The Post this January. "One time, on the road, and I was sitting courtside, he took a pin out of either his jersey or shorts on the bench and guys surrounded him so nobody could see and put it into the ball. Then he started bouncing the ball. I never mentioned it on the air."

Because of such tactics, Jackson carried an air-pressure gauge with him, according to Sam Smith's famous book, "The Jordan Rules":

"Like that night in Miami in the 1989-90 season. Jackson always tests the poundage in the game balls before the game. The balls that night in Miami were well below the required 7.5 to 8.5 pounds. An innocent oversight? Unlikely. With a softer ball players can't dribble as fast and the game slows. It was what a less talented team like Miami wanted against a running team like the Bulls. Jackson got the balls pumped up and the Heat were deflated.

"It works the way other, too; Jackson has caught the Lakers trying to sneak balls with 15 to 17 pounds of air into the game. Why? Magic Johnson likes a high dribble, and a livelier ball results in long rebounds that key the kind of fast break the Lakers love to use, especially at home."

Jackson also found deflated balls in Portland, the book reported: "Why, since the Trail Blazers liked to run? Because they crash the boards, and soft balls will stay on the rim longer for offensive rebounds, which was an advantage they had over the Bulls, who also liked to run."

"One time, on the road, and I was sitting courtside, [Bill Bradley] took a pin out of either his jersey or shorts on the bench and guys surrounded him so nobody could see and put it into the ball. Then he started bouncing the ball. I never mentioned it on the air. " Marv Albert

A league spokesman said he was unaware of any punishments handed down at any point through the years for any players inflating or deflating a game ball, and that it's unclear when rules regarding the mandated PSI for a game ball were put in place.

The current rules state that home team's equipment managers or ball boys take three basketballs to the official's locker room prior to a game. There, the balls are inspected for wear and tear and ensured that they comply with the NBA-approved ball pressure of between 7 ½ to 8 ½ PSI.

The crew chief then brings all three balls to the court during the warm-up period. The officials work with a player from each team -- it doesn't have to be a captain -- to select the game ball. Each player tests the balls, and if both players agree on one, that ball is used.

"I used to pick the game ball all the time," Barnett said. "I was very meticulous about that. I didn't want a ball that was too new. I wanted it to be a little softer."

However, if the players cannot agree and each pick a different ball, then the officials select the third ball. The other two balls are kept at the scorer's table in case the game ball is damaged.

Game officials have also been provided with portable air gauges to carry with them to each of their assigned games.

Housen said current policies are much more rigid, meaning there's little chance for players to get away with any shenanigans. Said the longtime league executive, "The opportunities for new game ball stories are gone, because everything has become more homogenous."

As a ball boy for the Warriors in the 1980s, Housen rebounded for Hall of Fame guard Chris Mullin on a daily basis. Housen never had to move too much; mostly he just stood beneath the rim to collect the ball after it swooshed the net.

"He was the easiest guy in the world to rebound for," Housen said.

But Mullin was also meticulous.

"If he came onto the court and that rim is a 16th of an inch off, or the net was off, he'd know, and sure enough, we'd go get the tape measure and it would be off," Housen said.

Curry is the same way, Housen said. Like Mullin, if something was off, even slightly, Curry would know, especially if it involved the ball.

Then Housen paused. He smiled.

"But with Steph, it don't matter," he said. "Because it's going in anyways."

How Many Basketballs are Used in an NBA Game?

A lot of details in professional basketball are a mystery to fans. For example, have you ever thought about how many basketballs are used in an NBA game? To many, that’s almost an overlooked element, but to real hoopers, a ball could actually be the difference between a good game to a great one. That’s a strange way for non-basketball fans, but that’s the way it is

So, really, how many basketballs are used in an NBA game? The protocol is, in the NBA, home teams present the crew chief or the chief referee, three balls. The officiating crew sees that the balls meet the standards as far as the wear and tear or the pressure. From there, if there is nothing wrong with the first ball that they use, that’s going to be the one and only ball used in the basketball game. If they see a need to replace it, it will be swapped out with the two alternate balls.

Does NBA Use New Basketballs Every Game?

The answer is actually NO, they don’t. The balls handed to the officiating crew before every game simply gets reused. Of course, there are times when players who exploded for career-highs ask for the game ball after the game, but that’s a rare occurrence. If the balls are kept in excellent condition, they will just be reused.

Here are some of the league’s stringent ball review processes, making sure that each game ball adheres to the standards:

  • All 30 teams are sent 72 game balls at the beginning of the season. The game ball will be checked and tested before the start of each game.
  • The three balls that are eyed to be used in the game will be taken to the referees’ locker room before each game.
  • The crew chief will be the designated tester, and he will see to it that the balls are devoid of wear and tear and with pressure between 7. 5 to 8.5 psi. What size of basketball do NBA players use? That will be the standard 29.5 inches, and it’s also the crew chief’s job to find out.
  • The three balls tested prior to the game will be brought to the court by the official crew chief during the warm-ups. He then selects the game ball from among the three tested balls.
  • If there’s a problem with the game ball, it will just be replaced with either one of the two remaining balls. A player could request a ball change from the officials.
  • The game officials are given portable air gauges to check the pressure of the ball if needed.
  • If a team needs more basketballs, they file an official request to the league, and it will be sent to them.
  • Because of these protocols, no team is allowed to use their own ball in the game. The only approved game balls are the ones inspected by the crew chief.

How Many Basketballs are Used in an NBA Season?

As previously mentioned, there are 72 balls sent to each of the NBA teams that they can use for the whole season. From the 72 balls, the game equipment manager or ball boys will select the three game balls, and protocol is followed by the crew chief as far as the actual inspection of the basketballs goes.

Even though the three basketballs selected are under the crew chief’s supervision, he may involve others in the decision-making of that one game ball that’s going to be used. To picture the scene, note how Tony Baxter of ESPN described what went down before tipoff in Game of the 2015 NBA Finals.

Baxter noticed Tony Brothers, the crew chief, went over to LeBron James with three balls in hand. LeBron took the balls one at a time, feeling and dribbling each one. James pointed and nodded to one. The same was done with Steph Curry. Curry also chose the one that LeBron chose, describing the ball as “broken-in” and “softer.”

To many fans watching at home, choosing a ball may simply be an afterthought, but as you see, it comes down to simple science with a dash of personal preference. More often than not, though, these basketball players like the same things, so like what Cury and James did, they come down to a unanimous decision as to which ball they should play with.

How Does the NBA Break in their Basketballs?

The NBA break in their balls the way everyone does: play with them.

Paul Sullivan, the senior vice president of Spalding, also noted that Spalding actually partnered with another company, Horween Leather Company, to create the NBA’s famous game balls. (Next year, though, Wilson will officially take over, and their balls will be used at the beginning of the 2021-22 season.)

For 11 years, Horween sent samples of tanned leather to Spalding and caused problems all over. Some of the leather is too sticky, some are too slippery. It took a long time to finally get it right. When they finally got the right leather, Spalding eventually went on with the partnership, noting how the balls were broken in two months instead of the usual six.

Skip Horween, the president of Horween leather, reiterates how important attention to detail is when making the Spalding game balls. NBA players, Horween said, notice the slight differences of the product almost in an instant. They may not be able to pinpoint the exact difference, but they can tell.

When the balls are finished, 72 of them are shipped to each team around July. That’s when the breakout process should get started. Even before it was sent to teams, the balls were catapulted in a wood plate six feet away. The balls were bounced at least 50 times to “wake the leather up.”

When it reached the players’ hands, it’s nothing but good old-school sweat and dirt that break in the balls. There is a difference when the ball is broken in from the sweat, oil, and dirt from the players from the one broken in by a bouncing machine.

Players also noted that balls that were not broken in are uncomfortable to play with. Sometimes, players get bloody fingers from shooting brand new balls for an hour just because the thread is brand new. Just when the orange ball turns brown because of the natural oils and dirt, the players like to play with the ball. More often than not, that process will take about a couple of months.

What Happens to the Basketballs After the Game?

The game balls used in the game are either taken by a player, given to a fan, or simply reused for the next game.

The first two scenarios are unique and are only done on special occasions. For instance, Player A may have scored a career-high 60 and wanted the game ball for himself. If that occurs, he simply needs to ask for it. Or that same player may sign and give the ball to a fan. It’s the same procedure, but he just needs to ask for it from the officials. If none of these things happen, then the ball will be kept by the equipment manager and used for the next game.

From these facts, if you’re thinking about the number of basketballs used in the NBA game, it could be anywhere from one to three under normal circumstances.

How Long Do the NBA Use the Same Basketball for?

In the NBA, the same ball will be used for as long as there are no extreme wear and tear. According to Spalding, the average life span of an NBA game ball is 10,000 ounces. There are usually over 2,600 bounces of the balls in an NBA game, so that gives it four or five games.

Of course, that estimate is based on many factors. As we all know, the NBA plays in generally pristine courts that should preserve game balls’ life span. As mentioned, it takes a couple of months before that thing is broken in, and players would not want to play with a ball that’s not broken in. With all these things considered, t would not make sense if a game ball lasts for only a few games.

To give you an idea of how long some balls last, some played with a Triple-Double NBA basketball (not an NBA game ball), and it lasted 12 months with its fantastic grip. Some also played with various balls and got a year of run out of it playing every day at the local YMCA.

What Basketball Does the NBA Use?

The NBA has been using Spalding over the last 30 years, but that partnership will only last until the end of the 2020-21 season. At the start of 2021-22, NBA will use Wilson basketballs.

Wilson was the NBA’s first partner since the league’s inception in 1946. For 36 seasons, Wilson is the official manufacturer of the NBA game balls. In 1983, the NBA turned to Spalding, the company that manufactured the first-ever basketball in 1894, off of the design of a baseball. Wilson will also manufacture game balls for the WNBA, the NBA G-League, Basketball Africa League (BAL), and the NBA 2K League. The company has long been the official game ball of NCAA basketball and high school leagues across the United States.

Back in 2006, the NBA and Spalding decided to switch to a synthetic version of basketballs, which was met with uproar by the players. It was often remembered as one of the most significant failed experiments in league history. The old leather ball was back as the NBA’s standard ball in 2007.

Why Did the NBA Make the Switch from Spalding back to Wilson?

There is no concrete answer to this question aside from the fact that in the original report by Yahoo’s Chris Haynes, he said it was a mutual agreement between the NBA and Spalding. What’s more, it appears that the change is more of a re-brand, more than anything else.

According to Haynes, the same leather supplier and product specifications will be followed. The NBA and NBPA will create a panel to offer suggestions team of engineers and designers. Hence, it will probably be just the same Spalding ball, but only this time, it’s the name Wilson that will be on it.

If Wilson makes the new NBA game basketball in the same way that they make their best basketball now, it will probably make the league more of a guard and shooter’s league than it already is. Wilson basketballs are noticeably softer, so shooters will love it; on the other hand, Spalding has a more rubbery feel, making it stick to the hands but is trickier to shoot.

Regardless, reading past the original headline, next year’s game ball will probably be the same ball with a different brand, so there’s nothing to worry about here.

Wrapping Things Up: How Many Basketballs are Used in an NBA Game?

The straight answer to the question “how many basketballs are used in an NBA game?” is anywhere from one to three. On many occasions, it will just be one, but if the game is taken by a player or is deemed unfit for use in the middle of the game, then it may be changed to one of the two balls in reserve.

To determine which basketballs will be used in the game, the chief crew selects three out of the team’s 72 official game balls. He will be the one responsible for the measurement of the pressure and the size of the ball. When he selects the three, he may enlist the help of both team captains to determine the ball to start with.

Many players like balls that are already broken in. For the Spalding game balls, it usually starts to break in after two months of use. Depending on many factors, dirt, oils, and sweat from the players could accelerate the break-in process.

Last but not least, it’s important to note that the NBA is switching from Spalding to Wilson starting next season. The report is that it will still be the exact product specifications under a different brand. That is probably what they will do because the last time they tried to experiment on new materials, it was met with pandemonium by the players. The next time someone asks, “What basketball do NBA players use?” the answer should be Wilson for the 2021-22 season, but with the same specs as the old Spalding leather game balls.

Did you find this helpful? Then also check out other basketball FAQ articles here.

> How Many Basketballs are Made Each Year?

> How Long Does a Basketball Game Last?

> How Many Basketballs Can You Fit in a Rim?

NBA parting ways with the legendary Spalding. Why did the basketball turn orange? - Bank shot - Blogs

Editor's Note: This text was released on Sports.ru on September 10, 2019. We lift it up because today is the end of an era: the NBA has stopped working with Spalding, whose balls have accompanied the league since '83.

Today the ball is the most recognizable part of basketball. But initially it was not so.

When, on the morning of December 21, 1891, James Naismith, a physical instructor at Springfield College, fired up with a new idea, came to work, he did not particularly think about what qualities the projectile should have. All he understood was that for the new game he invented, he needed a large ball. So he tried on two football versions - for rugby and for soccer. The rugby ball is elongated so that it can be carried in the hands, but the rules of the new game just prohibited it, so he took the round one.

The third rule in Namesit's legendary manifesto was: A player may not run with the ball. He must throw it from the place where he caught it; some movement is allowed if the ball was caught at high speed.

At first, the students played only in this way - they could either pass or roll the ball on the ground. Dribbling was first used by students at Yale University in 1897, and from there it spread throughout the world. At first, only one hit to the floor could be made, from 1909 the restrictions were lifted. In 1903, players who dribbled were banned from throwing until 1915.

And throughout the first third of the 20th century, basketball purists did not stop trying to fight this heretical change in Naismith's 13 commandments.

This was partly logical - and due to the fact that the game balls themselves were completely unsuitable for crossovers, shamgods and other Enduan things.

Basketball was first played with soccer balls .

The first basketball was made in the mid-90s by the bicycle factory Overman Wheel Co. from Massachusetts. It was lighter and larger than the soccer ball that had been played before.

And in the late 1890s, Naismith asked AJ Spaulding to develop an improved version of the basketball. True, even this was not very even, not very round and had lacing, which made dribbling difficult. In addition, such balls were 7-8 centimeters larger in diameter than modern ones, and much heavier than .

Well, they traditionally had an unpleasant dark brown color.

Naturally, basketball players were most infuriated by lacing, so Chuck Taylor could not ignore this problem. The founding father of Chuck Taylor All-Stars has always claimed to have played for professional and semi-pro teams for 11 years. And although this fact from his biography is poorly documented, it is obvious that he was rather tired of the crooked ball. In 1935, his company began to produce not only basketball shoes, but also released the first ball without lacing. Both the Converse All Star sneakers and the changed shell - for greater stability it now consisted of eight parts, and not four - at the official level akin to basketball in the next thirty years.

An unobvious moment: many people were convinced that a basketball has a natural color, skin color. In fact, this is not so: it was artificially dyed and given the traditional brown color.

Many players didn't like her, especially those with vision problems. But to make a radical change, it took the intervention of television.

In the mid-1950s, the TV crew insisted that the ball was hard to see from the stands and not very good on the television picture, and insisted on changing the color scheme . By 1957, it was decided that the balls would become light brown or even yellow.

And here another Indiana basketball representative had to intervene. Butler varsity head coach Tony Hinkle decided to develop an original color scheme and worked with Spalding to come up with the more radical orange colorway .

The new projectile debuted in the 1958 NCAA Final Four and won everyone over. The NCAA then switched to orange, and all other leagues gradually followed.

However, there has never been any stable variant - for half a century, about 50 gradations of orange / brown / dark brown have been used.

No one pissed off a dark brown ball more than center George Mikan, the first "greatest player in basketball history." To modern fans, he is known mainly for playing with thick glasses, and more like a militant nerd than a basketball player.

“I didn't see this crap at all,” Maikan said. - Then the arenas were even much worse lit, and the ball blended into the background. If you watched basketball on TV, then this shit-colored thing was not particularly visible.

Maikan was helpless to change anything as a player. But in 1967, the NBA had an aggressive competitor - the ABA - and the former bespectacled center was appointed its commission agent. So the first thing he decided to do was throw a brown ball out of the modern ship. The league was called American, and therefore they decided that the new ball would have the color of the American flag .

The owners of the ABA clubs disagreed for a long time: for them, a ball of this color symbolized almost the desecration of the national flag. But then Maikan balked and threatened to resign, and this is how the most legendary ball in the history of basketball appeared. In subsequent years, about 30 million shells of this color were sold in America - however, the ABA forgot to acquire a patent and practically did not earn anything from it.

In the 1980s, this color came back into fashion thanks to the efforts of the Beastie Boys. And it is still not clear why NBA commissioner David Stern, who knows how to make money on everything, tested many of the ABA's marketing moves, but never adopted the red-blue-white ball.

Maybe that's why.

“I came up with a trick that I used exclusively in the ABA,” said Roger Brown, one of the stars of that league. - The feint was associated with the color of the ball. When he spun in the air, he produced a kind of hypnotic effect. So I took the ball and started to twist it, as it were. Some defenders watched this as if spellbound, and one second was enough for me to break away from them.

The George Mikan Revolution not only destroyed the reverence for the traditional color of the ball, but also introduced various questions into the public plane about what qualities a projectile should have in general.

Players and coaches in the ABA constantly complained that the balls were supposedly made of a different material, and therefore slipped too much (this is how they explained the monstrous number of losses in the league).

It took a lot of time and almost specially organized trips to the factories to convince everyone that the only difference is the colors.

No one protested openly in the NBA. But various ancillary measures were taken covertly: for example, Phil Jackson said that his teams - Chicago and the Lakers - dropped balls so that he would not bounce far from the shield and so that Jordan or Shaq could grab him with one hand . He was taught this trick by his Knicks coach Red Holtzman, who himself had been performing since the era of the lace-up ball. And some said that they treated the balls with sandpaper so that they were not so slippery.

With the development of technology, designers have already become the players.

In the 90's there was a pitted version of the golf ball. But they still preferred pimples.

New components and structures have been introduced to wick away moisture so that the ball does not slip in sweaty hands.

With the use of synthetic materials, the color scheme has also become completely chaotic: on the streets you can find balls of a wide variety, from black and orange to the colors of any club.

Only professional leagues stick to the orange/brown tradition and dare to make minimal assumptions.

Photo: Gettyimages.ru/Orlando/Three Lions; Markus Boesch; Otto Greule Jr; Steve Grayson; Streeter Lecka

James Harden breaks the NBA. He is so cunning that opponents are perverted in defense against him - openers - Blogs

Harden is an outstanding attacking player. I think it's wise to start there. It combines the highest volume of workload, variability (yes) and efficiency in an amazing way. In recent years, we have become accustomed to this, it has become a given.

But the opponents, of course, cannot put up with such a given: they have tried a whole range of different, including rather strange tactics and schemes, to try to prevent Harden from creating a Rockets offense. In general, is probably the main compliment for an attacking player - to see how the opponent's defense does something extraordinary, simply because "normal" does not help . And James continues to work on the game, throwing new puzzles to opponents and forcing them to look for more and more new solutions to Harden's question.

And, in fact, James's prime years in the NBA can be logically described precisely by the way they defended against him. This clearly shows the trajectory of his career, how he changed and developed.

To remember everything James has been through in recent years (and everything he's been through in the NBA), you need to pick a starting point. As such, the 2016/17 season, also known as the season when Harden was supposed to win his first MVP, suggests itself. The thing is, this was James' last "normal" season.

Here is a short passage about Harden from a text written in 2017:

“Harden has one peculiarity. This is such a bearded phenomenon that haunts me all season and which makes James a player of a different level. He seemed to have sprouted into his partners. Houston is not only Harden, but Harden is the whole of Houston at once. Ryan Anderson, Eric Gordon, Pat Beverly, Clint Capela and Trevor Ariza are all James' instruments. He is so good in attack because he is five people at once, who are controlled by one brain. And this suggests the idea that the nickname "Beard" has somehow become boring, and corny to the point of horror. Octopus is a fitting nickname. No emotions and a lot of tentacles, that's how James plays."

The Rockets of that season were Harden, center, two chic sixths and a sea of ​​shooters. Then James placed partners on the edges, received a barrier, knew exactly where the safety net would come from and flirted with this partner. Opponents more often pulled together, rather than exchanged, this allowed them to create movement in the attack, and James consistently made the right decisions over and over again. The team ran a lot and showed the 3rd pace in the NBA, and Harden is much less than he is now playing one on one.

In 2016/17, only 23.7% of Harden's possessions were isolations. This is already quite a lot, but still very far from the current James. Well, that is, Harrison Barnes had more lockdowns that year as a percentage of total attacks.

But at the crucial playoff moment, Harden frankly fizzles out, and that's the most satisfying explanation I can come up with for James. He puts on a strange performance against the Spurs, and Mowry decides the leader needs to find an assistant. In the summer of 2017, Chris Paul joins the team.

By that time, it was already clear that the traditional defense works against Harden so-so - he solves it too easily. The presence of a second ball handler in the base, capable of supporting the movement of the ball, made exchanges against Harden almost inevitable: another defense would inevitably lead to open throws in 1-2 moves. And defensive trades leave the offense with few options. There are almost no open zones, but there are convenient match-ups. This means that you will have to constantly play in isolation.

The revolution has begun.

In the 2017/18 season, the proportion of isolations in Harden's possessions rises to 35.0% . He's averaging 1.22 points per possession, that's an offensive rating of 122—better than the biggest offense of the season (and that's the Rockets' offense).

In the 2018/19 season, isolations already account for almost half of James's attacks - 48.7, (1.11 points per possession) .

The Rockets are slowing relative to the league - 13th pace in 2018, 26th in 2019. Because insulation is energy-consuming, and a large number of possessions is useless.

These seasons, Harden is at his most ferocious one-on-one offense not only because he's insanely good, but also because he does things that other players don't or barely do.

At first, everyone notices how James catches the guardian's hand with his elbow during the throw, thereby earning a foul . The movement is fast, and if the defender is trying to actively interfere with the dribbling, then it is almost impossible to remove his hand in time.

James Harden catches Bryn Forbes with his hands reaching out and draws a 3-PT foul.

Pop promptly takes him out of the game. pic.twitter.com/Ts0jCgDg7e

— Salman Ali (@SalmanAliNBA) March 13, 2018

Because of this, teams began to advise players to keep their elbows close to their body and not spread their arms when Harden attacks against them. At maximum speed, it looked like this:

Harden continues to throw more than 14 free throws in 100 possessions to this day.

Then the league was finished when Harden mastered the three-point step-back . He just hammers the ball into the floor, abruptly steps back and throws it.

Here is how the number of Harden's stepbacks and the implementation of these throws changed: - 540 stepbacks, 38.9%

In two seasons, he went from plus or minus one such shot per game to 6.5, while maintaining a brilliant 39% conversion rate. Just for context, the average percentage of 3-pointers in the NBA is about 35. Most of them (about 80%) are shooting from receiving. A significant proportion of three-pointers are open shots. Approximately 1/5 of all three-pointers in the NBA are shots from the corner, from where it is closer to the ring, and this shot is easier to hit. Harden shot noticeably more accurately, despite the fact that he attacked from the lead, through the opponent’s hand and stepping back. He created a highly effective shot from nothing. 6.5 times per match.

In general, stepback is a topic that has always been not very reliable. That is, yes, it is almost impossible to defend against this, but it is also difficult to hit these throws with a good percentage. Well, Harden succeeded, and now it was necessary to decide what to do with the shot, against which there is no defense.

And the NBA responded in the most logical and at the same time inadequate way. Harden throws with an indent? Stand behind him - he will have nowhere to step back! If you take a position at an angle - behind and to the side, then you can also send the left-handed Harden to the uncomfortable right side! This is an excellent solution. True, the main essence of defense in basketball is lost, which is that the defender must be between his ring and the attacking player. But who cares, right? As a result against Harden began to defend from behind .

And, in principle, such protection, performed at a high level, was quite effective. Largely due to the fact that Harden is allergic to medium shots, but the model worked. It seemed that this is how Harden would be defended in the coming years.

But then the second revolution happened. In the summer of 2019, Chris Paul is traded for Westbrook, and Houston loses the main idea of ​​\u200b\u200bbuilding a team around Harden.

Before that, they always tried to surround him with snipers or snipers and a center. In such a situation, none of Harden's partners could be left uncovered. There are shooters on the arc, the center is under the ring, everyone is in a position from which they can immediately shoot. Westbrook also became the second non-thrower in the base. If he is left on the arc, he cannot attack effectively right away: his three-pointer is not reliable, and you cannot put him under the basket, because Capela is already there.

This gave the opponents a defensive margin, a small gap. The NBA got a chance and started to go crazy.

Toronto and Sacramento tried box-and-one, with one team player guarding Harden while the other four play the zone. Accordingly, wherever James goes with the ball, there are two people next to him - his personal player and someone in whose sector Harden ended up.

Raptors playing box-and-one on Harden daring Westbrook to shoot the three pic.twitter.com/P0N22zlQIT

— Heart of NBA (@HeartofNBA) December 6, 2019

Many teams began to double up on Harden. Not after the screen, but often immediately - in the central circle . Just to get the ball out of his hands.

Well, it looks like James Harden has found a solution on how to attack the double team #Rockets
pic.twitter.com/51nniiguSa

— Coty Davis (@CotyDavis_24) December 1, 2019

The Clippers in a recent game didn’t exactly double in the traditional sense, but sent a “ghost” to help - an additional player who stood on the middle and was ready to help if Harden got past the first line of defense.

Different teams use different types of double-teams, the accents change, but the essence is the same - to prevent Harden from playing one-on-one.

In the recent history of the NBA, no one has ever received such constant attention from the defense. No LeBron or Giannis is followed by the two of them all over the floor. They played against Curry "box and one", but that was in the playoffs and after the injuries of most able-bodied partners. Harden, on the other hand, has a similar effect in every match, as a matter of course. And of course, against James, they double up not only because there is a need, but also because there is an opportunity - the very “Westbrook gap”.

So the Warriors in a recent match tried to double up on Doncic, forced several losses, but it didn’t work out to make this model productive: all of Luka’s partners were in position to attack, often he just gave them a direct pass for a throw. Because his partners are snipers on the arc or center in the “paint”, they are immediately in the position from which they can attack. As a result, doublings were not very productive, in some places they were completely abandoned. The same Warriors double-teamed Harden before that the whole game, and it worked much more successfully than a one-on-one defense. So doubling was the main focus of the defense throughout the match, except for a small segment in the second quarter. There are simply more vulnerabilities in the Rockets offense and it is easier to hedge against them.

So there are two opponents against James, which means that in most cases, partners will have to decide something, they must implement this attack 4 on 3. But so far nothing works, the double team works .

It suddenly turned out that basketball is a team game.

Theoretically, the Rockets' task is similar to what Curry and Green had. Steph gathers the two upstairs, passes the ball to Draymond, who is walking towards the ring. If Green meets the center, there is a discount for his fifth. If Green is met by the center, and a player from the corner is drawn to the attacking fifth, a discount goes to the corner. If no one goes anywhere, Green lays down.

Classic Curry-Green pick n roll leads to points and closes out the best game of the year @warriors https://t.co/BivNjwJd5Y

— Sean Roberts (@sarob) May 11, 2019

What's wrong with using Westbrook as Green is hard to say. After all, he doesn’t even have to put up a barrier - on Harden they already double. Instead, usually Russ is on the arc and starts to go to the ring not at the moment of double on Harden, but only after receiving the ball. Time is lost, and it is enough for the defender to rebound from Harden who gave the ball and switch to someone else. The protection is dissipated.

Hardcore defense against Harden by the Warriors and Russell Westbrook. Timely doublings and coordinated actions to recover positions when Jace passes the ball.

And yes, Harden's shot is so accurate that he even got into a defensive cut against James pic. twitter.com/ZQzSbFBt83

— Igor Soshnikov (@soshnickov) December 26, 2019

But the Rockets don't seem to be trying to make Westbrook a Draymond. Instead, they often put a screen under Harden, so they decide who exactly will double on James. Usually Capela or Tucker puts up a barrier, which means they pull the center opponents into the arc, removing a large player from under the ring. Okay, smart. So, what is next? After that, the player who put up the barrier remains open, and they give him the ball. So Capela, who can't hit the floor three times, will lead your attack as a secondary ball handler? It's all weird and not very clear.

Theoretically, you can increase the shooting potential of the team by removing Capela from the floor, then Westbrook will be the only player without a shot. But so that it cannot be left uncovered, Russ needs to be placed under the ring, and for now he hangs around on the arc. It seems more logical then to remove Russ from the parquet, but it’s hard to believe, and the Rockets don’t have a deep enough team to refuse to use a player who takes 40M in payroll.

On the contrary, you can give the ball to Westbrook, but then it turns out that the double team won, and the Rockets initially give the opponent what the opponent had to work for before - they remove the round from Harden's hands.

Maybe we should just wait for Gordon to come back and give the team another player who can both shoot and dribble, and then everything will be fine.

One way or another, this is a matter of partners and coaches. Because what is happening now is not Harden's problem, but his merit. After all, in fact, the teams simply gave up in an attempt to stop him, switching to constant doubling.

And James is doing great against these double teams, it's just that the team has to play their part too. Perhaps it's Harden's fault that he previously usurped the ball and taught his teammates to be dependent, and now Austin Rivers has no idea what to do with the ball in free space. Well, you'll have to adapt. But James himself has already adapted:

- Harden collects doubles as high as possible to pass to a 4 on 3 attack almost the entire half of the floor.

- Harden maintains his tone and, as soon as the opponent stops doubling, he throws a full string bag (as was the case in the end with the Clippers or in the second quarter with the Warriors).

- Harden tries to remain an option and throws before the second player draws to him.

- Harden occasionally finds a way to get between two opponents.

– Hell, sometimes Harden just throws through two.

If this is not enough for the team, then the problem is in the team. And that's the thing - now the NBA has a defense against the Rockets, but still no defense against Harden.

And the way the opponents are trying to restrain James, in fact, just hoping that his partners will make mistakes often enough - this is the highest recognition.

He forces the NBA to take absurd measures and still remains effective. In the morning you watch the match report, and if it says that Harden has 27 points, then you understand that you doubled on it.

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