While some balls on the market feature strange, contrasting colors, most basketballs are one color, either a scheme of orange or a lighter shade of leather.
Basketballs are orange. This is the official color for the NBA. When the American Basketball Association existed, it used red, white, and blue basketballs. But when the two merged, the NBA’s color replaced the older versions. A few gimmick teams still use American-colored basketballs in their show games.
At this point, most basketballs are orange in color, with black sections called the nubs that sit directly under the ball’s surface. The ball’s cover is almost always divided by ribs, which are recessed beneath the basketball’s surface in various configurations, and are usually of contrasting colors.
Conversely, the highly distinguishable-looking basketball has panels that alternate between orange and black. While most basketball teams worldwide employ various color schemes, the color of basketball remains consistent, and that is orange. Orange remains the standard color of the basketball used by the officially recognized teams and leagues.
Orange Is the Official Color
While orange is the official NBA basketball color, many colors are used in basketball. Most basketballs are burnt orange, but other colors are also black, blue, yellow, or even multicolored.
The colors of ABA basketballs are pretty different than the traditional orange-colored basketballs. While the orange has been orange since the 1950s, the ABAs basketball colors were red, blue, and white, which made the ball conspicuous for all, yet full of style.
The first balls made especially for basketball were maroon, and only in the late 1950s did Tony Hinkle, looking for a ball that was more visible to players and spectators, introduce the orange ball now commonly used. It was not until Tony Hinkle and The Spalding Company created the iconic orange ball that the color is still used as official. Working with Spalding & Bros., Tony Hinkle developed the first orange basketball, debuting at the 1958 NCAA Championship Game.
No one is 100% sure why Tony Hinkle and the Spalding company chose orange. Still, some speculate that since orange coloration could be achieved simply by changing the shade of the tan color to a lighter hue, it was not only more straightforward and made the basketball easier to see, it was not a drastic change like some other colors could be. Tony Hinkle’s desire to change the ball’s color came about from the fact that the tan-ish shade was challenging to see while playing basketball. Tony Hinkle considered brown an inferior color because of the low visibility.
Color Choices for the Earliest Basketballs
The early basketballs were a darker shade of brown because of their heavy leather construction. As we saw earlier, early basketball games were played using a dark-brown football thrown into a light-colored basket.
When basketball was first invented, players would use a soccer ball and two peach baskets, which were fixed to either side of a gym–the primary goal was to get a soccer ball to fall through a peach basket. When the first basketball was created, players used to play using a soccer ball. Dr. James Naismith invented the game of basketball way back in 1891, and back then, players used to shoot balls in peach baskets hanging on either side of the gymnasium, much like today’s modern-day basketball games.
Physical Education teacher James Naismith assembled his class of 18 youths, named the captains of two teams of nine players, and arranged for the first-ever basketball game, played with a football and two peach baskets attached to the ends of the gymnasium.
When basketball was first started, the balls were originally brown. It was not until the late 1950s that things changed, with the introduction of a newer, more conspicuous, easier-to-distinction color, the basketball orange. Impressed by the easier-to-see color, the NCAA adopted an orange-colored ball, which is now a standard among all basketball organizations. The NCAA was impressed by the increased visibility of the orange ball and adopted the design. Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban has even commented about using the vibrant orange basketball.
The Move Toward Vibrant Orange Colors
As first-round games began, fans began asking and commenting about brighter orange basketballs being used, with some saying that it looked almost like a glow-in-the-dark court. It is not just you. The electric orange-colored basketballs in the NCAA Tournament look more vibrant this year than in years past; that would explain why, at NCAA tournament time, those basketballs on your TV screen seem so orange. I have never seen a basketball this color unless you count the glorious red, white, and blue balls from America’s oldest basketball association.
The best known among its many colors is the red/white/blue ball used by the American Basketball Association, Harlem Globetrotters. It was used as a Moneyball for three-point contests during the All-Star weekend in the National Basketball Association. Players in high-level basketball leagues such as the NBA and NCAA use uniformly colored balls.
Basketballs are also available in a wider variety of colors. However, these colors are geared more toward styling rather than function. A traditional basketball colorway is an orange-colored surface with black nubs and a possible logo. However, these are sold in various colors.
The NCAA has signed with Wilson to supply the tournament’s basketballs. In the Big 12, at least in every area, I noticed in this season’s basketball, teams use leather balls with the most traditional appearance. Wilson took the best of what was in previous National Sports Goods Association playing balls, the best in Evolution basketballs (the #1 playing ball in the world), and created a new ball you will see used this year. While the color of the ABS basketball has a compelling look, the seams are smaller, making them harder to manipulate.