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Basketball

National Museum of American History
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Object Details

Weber, Thomas E.
Wilson Sporting Goods Company
Description
A basketball is defined as “an inflated spherical ball used in the game of basketball.” Most basketballs have an inflatable, inner, rubber bladder, are wrapped in layers of fibers, and then are covered with leather, rubber, or a synthetic composite. The surface of a standard 29.5 inch ball is divided by “ribs” and contains approximately 4,118 pebbles, at a diameter of 2.5 millimeters each. The traditional basketball is orange with black ribs although the balls come in a variety of colors. The Wilson Sporting Goods Company began producing basketballs early in its history, but it wasn’t until the 1970s that the Wilson ball was chosen as the official basketball of the National Basketball Association, cementing its place in sports history. The ball shown here was used by the donor, Thomas Weber, during the early 1970s in Newburyport, Massachusetts.
Location
Currently not on view
Credit Line
Thomas E. Weber
1974
associated dates
1976
1974-1976
ID Number
1980.0682.01
catalog number
1980.0682.01
accession number
1980.0682
Object Name
ball
basketball
Physical Description
synthetic rubber (overall material)
orange (overall color)
black (overall color)
Measurements
overall: 10 in; x 25.4 cm
associated place
United States: Virginia
See more items in
Culture and the Arts: Sport and Leisure
Artifact Walls exhibit
National Museum of American History
subject
Basketball
recreational
Sports
Record ID
nmah_1065226
Metadata Usage (text)
CC0
GUID (Link to Original Record)
http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746a9-07dd-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa

Related Content

  • Basketball

Basketball, 1974
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