“More basketball content from Top Gear Philippines?” If you saw one on this website just a few days back, then you might already be wondering about the direction we’re headed. No, we’re still the same brand you’ve come to know—it’s just that recently, there have been a few interesting basketball-related things that are relevant to us.
Case in point: Wilson’s new airless basketball. Specifically, the Airless Gen1 basketball. That name alone tells me something important: They intend to make more of this in the future.
Anyway, this is tech, so this is still within our realm, and it should be good....right? Well, we’ll get to that in a bit. First, let’s take a look at this weird-looking, trypophobia-inducing round thing.
OTHER STORIES YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED:
Is the smallest Lexus ever on its way to PH?
PH auto industry off to a strong start with 34,060 units sold in January
We first saw this tech in action (and in prototype form) at the 2023 All-Star Weekend when it was used for the Slam Dunk Contest. The ball has a 3D-printed polymer lattice structure and features eight panel-like lobes with hexagonal holes to allow air to pass through.
It looks the part of a legit basketball thanks to its seams. Wilson also claims that it “nearly fits the performance specifications of a regulation basketball” such as its weight, size, and bounce.
Now, for the big question: Why?
When airless tires came out, the Internet went crazy—both the good and bad kind of crazy. But as the technology was further developed, manufacturers found good use cases for the non-pneumatic tires. For autonomous vehicles? Good idea. For delivery robots of the future? Why the heck not.
But even just from the get-go, airless tires had a value proposition: It was one less thing to worry about for car owners. These airless balls, on the other hand—apart from taking out the hassle of having to inflate your ball before you hit the park—probably do not. And what if rocks get into the holes, how do you get them out? You can simply hose it out in a tire and said tire would be fine. A basketball, however, isn’t supposed to get wet. Mind you, that’s just one of the many considerations.
Sure, the basketball beat the tire to the mass-market launch with multiple colorways available to boot. And despite its absolutely eye-watering $2,500 (P139,000) price tag, it still sold out. But in the grand scheme of things, only one of those two makes sense. One could actually make a positive difference in people’s lives and across the industry, while the other...well, you tell us.
