I’ve been reading the book Loose Balls, a history of the ABA.
Here’s an old ABA game with the red white and blue ball.
If I was Adam Silver, I’d definitely bring back the ball at least for the 2026 season, the 250th birthday of the USA. And yes, I definitely had one of those balls as a kid.
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Maybe for an anniversary season, or maybe for games between two former ABA teams. But no, I don’t go for overt displays of patriotism. I’m not even a huge fan of forcing players to stand for the National Anthem. Or playing it at all.
I wonder if a one off game would work? The book talks about how slippery the ball was early on in the season since all the balls were brand new. Does an NBA game today begin with a fresh new basketball? If so, then it’s fine.
For occasional celebrations or events? Sure, why not; the ABA was an important part of the growth of basketball, and the ball is a fun throwback to those days
As their everyday ball? I don’t see a good reason to do so.
If we’re gonna do this, we need to officially recognize ABA players’ statistics and team championships more than we’ve been doing.
(Of course, the Pacers do still hang their three ABA Championship banners).
Honestly, I would like the ball to be bright yellow like a tennis ball. It would make its arc even easier and cooler to follow, visually.
For a brief time, many of us had those red-white-blue basketballs, and I kind of hated them. Not because of the flag part, but because my eyes had a harder time picking them up, particularly if they were spinning.