Episode 21: Bouncing to Success

Once again, the OGs explore a variety of intriguing topics in the world of basketball.  Tune in to learn more about the Euro Step, one player’s path to financial security and how an NBA basketball is made.  

The Euro Step in the NBA  After researching how the Euro step in basketball evolved from a foul to a very refined basket making step, Mary Lou and Phyllis uncover some fun facts about this tricky basketball move. With it’s roots in the Yugoslavia European basketball league, it eventually became popular in the NBA for creating space and assisting finishes at the rim.                           

Pat Connaughton’s Financial Playbook 

The segment is about how Pat Connaughton leveraged his sports earnings into real estate, co‑founding Three Leaf Partners, which built a $500M+ portfolio in seven years. He also runs a foundation supporting youth basketball and community projects as well as gives back to the NBA by working with new players about investments and finances.

From Leather to the Hardwood The making of an NBA basketball has evolved over more than a century. Over time and hands-on research, designs improved for better grip, durability, and bounce, leading to the modern leather NBA ball used today. Mary Lou and Phyllis talk about its construction that balances performance and consistency, and how a ball is selected as a ‘game ball’.        

Follow us on Instagram #OGs Talkin’ Ball

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Hi, all, and welcome to OG's Talk and Ball. We're going to delve into a few topics today that Phyllis and I found quite interesting to take a look at and uh at a deeper level, and we're hoping that you may want to hear more about these things as well. So we're going to start talking about the Euro step, and I know some of you who are fans kind of have a deeper understanding or a better understanding of what that might be. But those maybe new to basketball or newer to basketball may not. And then we're going to talk about a particular player by the name of Pat Conneton. And right now he's on the Hornets, and he is like a financial guru wizard, and we are we were both very impressed with information that we heard about him. So we're going to do that as well. And then I stumbled on um an Instagram by a guy named Tyler M. Webb who talked about how basketballs were formed. Who would have ever given that a second thought? Yeah, it never occurred to me. Never. But anyway, how they're made, who makes them, where they're made, how some a ball gets chosen to play in. Anyway, we're gonna get into that as our third segment. So welcome aboard, and we're gonna start with the Eurostep. Phyllis, what do you what should we know about that?

SPEAKER_02 1:22

The Eurostep, I think it's a term you'll hear in the in games sometimes, you know. And so we thought, yeah, better figure out um better figure out what that is. Exactly. Exactly. Basically, it it's actually legal now. Right. It's a two-step move. It's used to evade defenders near the basketball rim. And um it involves uh two steps going in different directions.

SPEAKER_01 1:52

So the player kind of like a dance move, sort of.

SPEAKER_02 1:56

Mm-hmm forward, plants a foot, and then steps the opposite direction to trick the defender. Okay. And uh like I say, it looks like traveling, but it's not anymore.

SPEAKER_01 2:07

And it's not just in Europe or for Europeans, correct? No, but it was started there. Yes, it was. It was actually started in Yugoslavia. Yeah, they used it the most. Right.

SPEAKER_02 2:17

You know, as early as 1960.

SPEAKER_01 2:19

I I know, I know. And um the guy's name was Sarunas Mark Marcelonis. Marcelonus. Okay, so he is the dude that started using it the most. And guess what? Whistles, whistles, whistles, because they called it a travel. They thought that there was too much going on there. So that kind of is another whole thing that refs have to understand and know about what's the difference between a legitimate travel and a more legitimate Eurostep that a lot of the players are now using, not just in um uh the NBA, but also in the WNBA and in college ball. Not as much as in college ball. This is almost like like a more sophisticated.

SPEAKER_02 3:04

Yeah, like advanced basketball.

SPEAKER_01 3:06

Exactly. Very good word for it, uh, advanced basketball. So it was uh introduced into the NBA in um 1989 officially.

SPEAKER_02 3:16

Well, yeah, yeah, that's when Serenos was on the Golden State Warriors. I remember when that started. Uh-huh. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 3:22

So that was 37 years ago. Um, yeah, so getting there.

SPEAKER_02 3:28

Well, he's the first one who used it, but it was actually um Mannu Ginobili.

SPEAKER_01 3:33

Manu, mm-hmm. Manu Genobli on the Spurs, yeah. Who was like a legend, still is, you know, a walking legend from the uh San Antonio Spurs.

SPEAKER_02 3:44

Yeah, you know, he was from he was born in Argentina. Right. And then he played in the um Italian league, and that's where he learned this Eurostat. Okay, good job. And then he he brought it to the uh NBA, and he's the one who really um made it gain popularity and attention because he perfected it and popularized it in the NBA.

SPEAKER_01 4:08

That was like back in the early 2000s, so about 20 years ago or so.

SPEAKER_02 4:13

Yeah, you know, he he was left-handed and he had a really high basketball IQ, and he just had these herky jerky moves and he'd just go around people.

SPEAKER_01 4:23

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. It was a it was a beautiful thing to watch. Yep. Um, yeah, it's really and it's again, it's really interesting because it's almost a very fine line between this Eurostep and what a travel could be defined as. And Eurostep, I think we need to remember that it is like a gather step. It became more like a gathers step that they use that language as well, and allowing players to take two steps after stopping their dribble. So again, it was like whistle, whistle, whistle when somebody first started doing that, and then they kind of took it apart. And that was way before they had the analytics and the computer systems and um the research that has, you know, we could do today to figure something like that out, you know, by um using a film to figure out um the and with again with our kinetics and kinesthetics, how that all, you know, right in somebody's body.

SPEAKER_02 5:19

Yeah, you know, it's a very effective move for shorter guards when they're being guarded by taller centers and forwards, right? Because they it's a trick. They just move around them and then they can get open layups or reverse layups or floaters. Right. It it just opens up the space between you and the basket.

SPEAKER_01 5:44

Exactly. And you'll hear it, you know, those of you that listen to many basketball different types of uh commentators, you're gonna hear it, I think, more often with players like Luka Doncic. He he uses it a lot, and so does like James Harden. And those those are two basically shorter for lack of a better term, not as tall, you know, um, guys on the court. Giannis is also one who uses it quite a bit, and again, you could kind of figure that out with him because of his uh European or the roots in Greece, you know, that when he played ball there, that that was probably something, maybe that they did more because I'm sure that um uh as it was developed and came forward, um, he wanted to try it because he's such a good basketball player.

SPEAKER_02 6:32

Yeah, well, he he's got that down because he can start at the three-point line and take two steps and be there. Yeah. I mean, he does he does that Euro step and gets around people. Yeah, he can cover 15 feet in two steps.

SPEAKER_01 6:47

Right, right.

SPEAKER_02 6:48

Two euro steps.

SPEAKER_01 6:49

Right. Yeah, you see sometimes guys flying with that thing and wonder that's not a travel. Yeah, I mean, in my mind anyway, because I'm pretty limited, I think, in that respect.

SPEAKER_02 6:59

Well, he just moves for so much space, you know.

SPEAKER_01 7:02

Right, right.

SPEAKER_02 7:03

Um in what speaking of James Harden, he added a little um extra to the uh Eurostep. He bumps first, takes his shoulder and shoves somebody. Interesting.

SPEAKER_01 7:14

I'll have to watch next time I see a um a game that he's playing because he's now with the Cavs. Is that where he was? He's I think so Detroit. Detroit or somewhere. Oh god, I'm sorry. No, I think I think it's I think it's the Cavs. Anyway, yeah, you'll see him do that quite often. Yeah, but bump step step. Right. He's he's free to the basket. Yep, yeah. I did want to go back a step and talk about this gather thing, too, what gather is. Let's clarify that a little bit and then we can move on with other players that are using this and um what this has allowed players to be able to do. So the gather is the step taken while ending the dribble and does not count toward the two steps, allowing for a no-step, one step, and then two-step sequence. So it gets very, very complicated. And I'm sure uh I don't know, maybe somebody can do this kind of naturally, but I'm sure a lot of this takes some work and with coaching and um uh players practicing it, you know, over and over and over so that they're not gonna get nailed for a travel and you know, cause uh the ball to turn over then to the other team.

SPEAKER_02 8:23

So yeah, but you know what? You can um you can s you can use this even if you are passing the ball. You can go zip, zip, and pass.

SPEAKER_01 8:32

True, true, true.

SPEAKER_02 8:33

It's not a travel even if you're not shooting the basket, right? You can pass it off.

SPEAKER_01 8:38

Right.

SPEAKER_02 8:38

Which I think is um a good way again to trick the defender into thinking you're gonna shoot, but you're throwing it, you know, behind you or to the left or whatever.

SPEAKER_01 8:50

And you know, um the rule actually changed in the NBA in 2009. So again, we're talking, you know, less than 20 years ago that this this is all became legitimized. So, and again, I think it's fascinating that the way basketball was, as we've discussed when Naismith developed it back in um 1891, you know, which is just lifetimes ago, obviously, for all of us, um, that how much things have changed or evolved, not really changed, but certainly evolved. There's a quite a few WNBA players that use the Eurostep as well. Uh Kalia Cooper from the Phoenix Mercury as well as Satou Sab Sabali. Uh, they're both on the Mercury, they use it quite often. Kelsey Plum, who's one of the aces from Las Vegas, uses it. Uh-huh. And uh Paige Beckers, who just was the rookie last year from UConn, uh, has developed a very nice um Eurostep.

SPEAKER_02 9:48

And isn't that fun to watch?

SPEAKER_01 9:50

She, yeah, she's fun to watch. She is. The Eurostep is used a little tiny bit in college, but you don't, you're not going to hear it as much because those players are still a work in progress. You figure a lot of them that we're looking at are 18. So they're very young and um still early in their development. What a cool topic to take a look at, Phyllis. That was really good. I like that.

SPEAKER_02 10:10

Yeah, it was interesting to look into that for me.

SPEAKER_01 10:13

Yes, anyway. Good idea. Whoever which one of us came up with it, or because I don't think anyone asked for this, but I think sometimes Phyllis and I get these ideas and put them on a list. You know, we keep an ongoing list of what we're gonna what we think we want to talk about at some upcoming moment. And so now today we did the Eurostep. So we're gonna end with that and lead into um the segment about finances and Pat Connotin. So we'll take a break and um move forward. Okay.

SPEAKER_02 10:50

Welcome back to OG's Talk and Ball. This is Phyllis and Mary Lou. We're gonna talk about Pat Connotton. You know, in researching basketball topics, certain names came up as really interesting people. And Pat Connoton was one of those. He was a player I've always liked because he he spent his first three years in uh professional basketball in Portland.

SPEAKER_01 11:17

Right, right. So we got to know him. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 11:20

Yeah, he was a great three player. Because I bet a lot of people are saying, who? Yeah, well, he was on the Milwaukee Bucks for eight years.

SPEAKER_01 11:28

He wanted he wanted to ring with them when he was there. He is basically a bench player, I would say. I don't think he wasn't a starter even in Portland years ago, but um just a real gifted athlete, definitely.

SPEAKER_02 11:40

Right. He only starts if too many people are injured. That's right, yeah. Yeah, and now he's with the Hornets. Yeah, you know. Yeah, in Charlotte. This just last year he went to the Hornets.

SPEAKER_01 11:50

Right, right. And the Hornets are definitely making themselves known. So, and we'll talk about that at another time for sure. Yeah. Um, so what do we need to know about Connerton? He's 33, 33 years old. Yes, he is. Graduate of Notre Dame University. He did graduate, he was in the business school there, right, and got his degree.

SPEAKER_02 12:09

Business degree.

SPEAKER_01 12:10

And decisions, decisions, decisions after graduation.

SPEAKER_02 12:15

Yeah, he had a lot of different choices because you know, in high school he was a uh football quarterback, yeah, he was a pitcher for the baseball team, right? And he played basketball.

SPEAKER_01 12:28

So And he's from the East Coast, I think maybe Massachusetts.

SPEAKER_02 12:33

Midwest or no, no, high school was back further.

SPEAKER_01 12:36

It's yeah. So anyway, but that's okay.

SPEAKER_02 12:39

Okay, and then in college he he dropped football. Right. But he played baseball and he played basketball. And then in his junior year, he was offered a baseball contract with the Oreos, Baltimore Oreos.

SPEAKER_01 12:57

Orios, yep, yep.

SPEAKER_02 12:59

And he got a signing bonus of four hundred and twenty-eight thousand dollars.

SPEAKER_01 13:04

This is at twenty-two, right? At age now we're we're talking age twenty-two. Okay.

SPEAKER_02 13:09

Yes. So you know what he did with that money?

SPEAKER_01 13:12

I imagine he did not blow it on a new car that could have cost that much.

SPEAKER_02 13:17

Well, he did buy a new car, but it was a a Jeep Wrangler.

SPEAKER_01 13:21

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 13:21

That was his only luxury that he got with that money. And um, you know, his dad, Len, is uh general contractor. Right, right. So Pat was Pat majored in business and he planned on he planned on having a business career after after he had a his sports career, whatever he had, wherever he ended up. So he was very serious about that. So while he was still in college, he bought a house and flipped it. Oh and that's where the business started. Somewhere in South Bend. Uh-huh. Uh-huh. Interesting. Yeah. And he just kept doing that.

SPEAKER_01 14:02

Yeah. And this was we're talking, he was drafted in 2015. So we're talking about probably somewhere between 2012 and 2015. He made that purchase.

unknown 14:12

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 14:13

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 14:14

Well, after he after his junior year when he got okay when he got that bonus. All right. That signing bonus from the Orioles.

SPEAKER_01 14:20

Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_02 14:21

And you know what? They never asked for that back. Wow. And they s they still kept the rights to him until 2020.

SPEAKER_01 14:28

I didn't know that. Interesting. Yeah, he couldn't have to be a good idea. I love all those little tidbits that we find. A baseball baseball. Yeah, he could have, he was quite the pitcher. But instead, we were blessed with him for three years and got to know him here in Portland. Just always a very amiable, likable guy. I don't think anyone had a bad word to say about him. Yeah, and he's cute too. Yes, he is. And in the meantime, though, he's amassing this real estate investments that just would knock your socks off, seriously.

SPEAKER_02 14:58

Yeah. He's co-founder of a company.

SPEAKER_01 15:00

Yeah, yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 15:02

And that company builds, let's see, what what they said. Oh, he he's um his president of a real estate development firm that builds sustainable, multifamily, and mixed development. Right. And you know what that means? Builds apartment complexes.

SPEAKER_01 15:21

Yeah, yeah. Probably in parts of city, maybe that some other folks might not want to go to if he's talking about um being um conscientious not to charge, you know, the money thing is not first and foremost. However, you know, he's worth$52 million or more than that now. Um actually$550 million that he is generated through his investments and the work that he has done. And that's seven years over a seven year period, he transitioned from house flipping to managing that type of portfolio.

SPEAKER_02 15:56

Yeah, you know, and he get he has um other professional athletes that he has involved in his company.

SPEAKER_01 16:04

Well, he's like he's really involved in the NBPA, which is the National Basketball Players Association, and takes the time to do workshops for newly signed basketball players. Wow. You know, wow. Right. And not about playing basketball, right? It's workshops on financial smarts. Yeah, you know?

SPEAKER_02 16:30

Don't go spend your money on a Lamborghini and not have enough money to live on.

SPEAKER_01 16:35

There you go. Yeah. And think about the future. And we mentioned a few earlier on in our broadcasts who didn't think much of their future and just kind of blew every penny that they had.

SPEAKER_02 16:43

Yeah, so sad. It is very sad. Uh a multimillionaire that can't afford to live anywhere.

SPEAKER_01 16:51

Yeah, yeah. Uh, so his strategy is build now, bank later. So he's interested in the investing part of that. He wants to um totally uh build from the ground up. And again, as you said, multifamily and industrial projects. A lot of places that are built in fancier areas downtown don't cater to multifamily or actually they're they do because they're condos, but a lot of them don't. The family in the traditional sense of the word, including children, a lot of times aren't a piece of this, but I think in his way of doing business, it's a much broader picture, you know, to include uh families and singles and everybody else in between.

SPEAKER_02 17:35

Yeah, they're starting to buy industrial th places.

SPEAKER_01 17:39

Yes, you know.

SPEAKER_02 17:41

It I mean, this is a big operation.

SPEAKER_01 17:43

Yeah, I definitely, definitely, yeah. Um, so and and again, his his big thing is um uh he started with uh initial venture was called Beach House LLC.

SPEAKER_02 17:57

Yeah, that's why he was in college. Right, he had an LLC.

SPEAKER_01 18:01

Uh-huh. And LLC and it cracks me up because he went to college in the middle of the country, right? And it's called Beach House. But Beach House could, I so I guess also be considered the lakes in you know Michigan and Wisconsin and Indiana and Illinois too. There are lakes there that um he might have kind of You mean those Great Lakes? Yeah, those great lakes, yeah. Exactly, exactly that whole area. And um anyway, just you know, just a really cool guy. And just um if you haven't paid attention to him as a fan, you may want to and uh just know that how how savvy he was and how he included his dad in his business decisions because his dad was a successful contractor, and not just to say, Oh, I can do it better than my dad, or you know what I mean, I could don't have to listen to him. And you know, the attitude stuff can really be part of a guy or woman's dis demise, you know, if you start thinking I know more than they do, even though his dad was successful and had probably the dollars, I don't know the d his dad's net worth, but I'm sure he's comfortable. And um, so Pat really did, like you said, leaned into his dad and listened and watched and paid attention and then co and then partnered with his dad to make his business um you know worthwhile.

SPEAKER_02 19:16

Yeah, and you know, like like many um professional athletes, he has a charity, it's called the Pat Connotton Foundation. And they build I mean, they run camps and clinics for young athletes and they try to emphasize the total kid and life skills, right? You know, but they also build basketball courts and they rehabilitate basketball courts, and you can apply online if you have a rundown court. Oh wow, and you want a them to rehabilitate it.

SPEAKER_01 19:49

That's a great fun fact. You know, I think I forget anyway, or you uh any of any of us don't how do you get this stuff? You know, all these guys are doing such great things. You gotta just go on Google and look it up, and probably it'd be very helpful to find where it is.

SPEAKER_02 20:01

Online under Pat Connoton Foundation, and uh you can you can just apply. And they they built 20 so far that I've seen that I know of. Um, and it has it has to be where young people play.

SPEAKER_01 20:15

Right, right. Okay, like neighborhoods or communities or community centers centers or whatever. Yeah, whatever. That's very cool. Yeah, um cool. Also, you know, he's involved with helping the athletes of the NFL, the football, National Football League, the National Hockey League, as well as the NBA baseball. So the N and Major League Baseball MLB, um, definitely, I mean, just just a really terrific um guy and approach to what he's doing, and um not only on the court, you know, but off the court too. So uh he's a part of just in closing here that this is a board for the NBA specifically called Think 450, and it's the partnership arm of the National Basketball Association, Players Association, who really, like I said, they reach out to the younger players. So that's a really I've I hope all the young players we'll have to look into that, how many of them take advantage of that? Yeah, because I think that is a real service. It really is because a lot of them, like I said, come out of high school or one year of college, and you know, I didn't know much about even balancing a checkbook at that point in my life. You know, I can't imagine all this money coming at you and what to do with it. So, anyway, so that's that's it on Pat Conaton. I hope you all have an opportunity to uh look at him at least as a player as Charlotte continues their little season of making some differences in the world and um to know that he, along with uh others, um are giving back even to each other or to their peers, you know, and beyond. So Okay. Next up how basketballs are made. Oh, yeah, I can't wait for that one. That's a good one. All right, see you soon. Hang on, we'll be right back. We're back. Phyllis said that I could start, and you know what that means. I'm not gonna I'm trying not to monopolize the time, but we are going to uh talk about the history of how the basketball is made and what that looks like in our current time. So I wanted to give you a very brief background that you know we remember from our couple of segments where we mentioned that Naismith's players, when he developed basketball in 1891, actually used um soccer balls uh as basketballs. And then in the mid-1890s, Spaulding, companies like Spaulding began actually manufacturing basketballs, and they were made from brown leather panels that were sewn together, and they had an inflatable rubber, like a bladder, like a look like a um what do you call it, hot water bottle, or you know what I mean, the inside a round thing that would be filled up. So, but players were complaining that they were too dark, difficult to grip. Uh, you can imagine with lacing all over the place how that would affect. So quickly, then, in back as the NBA started in the 40s, um, the whole basketball look morphed into the lace being removed, that the panels were molded rather than stitched, and the leather became more refined and consistent. So the switch to orange, because they were still brown, came with Tony Hinkle, who was a basketball coach at Indiana's Butler University, and he pushed for a brighter ball that players could see more clearly. Thus, we have the orange ball. So, what do you think of that, Phyllis? Well, that's a good background. Okay, so now it's you go on from there, please.

SPEAKER_02 23:52

Okay, so now for well, for years, Spaulding is the one who made all the official NBA basketballs, but now it's Wilson.

SPEAKER_01 24:01

Right.

SPEAKER_02 24:01

Although they get their um they get their leather from the same place in Chicago. Chicago. Uh-huh. I saw that too.

SPEAKER_01 24:08

Yeah. And they're all in Chicago. I mean, that's where all these manufacturers are. And yeah, they're uh get them from a um Horween leather company. Yeah. That's the go-to place, no matter, I guess, what kind of leather product of professional athletes, uh, including footballs and everything that's leather. Yeah, yeah, go ahead.

SPEAKER_02 24:31

Well, basketballs are made out of steer hide.

SPEAKER_01 24:33

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 24:33

It's tanned for three weeks, it's a dyed. And then they use um they use pressure of a thousand pounds to press the pebbled surface.

SPEAKER_01 24:46

Wow. So it becomes a little bit of a something grip. Right. Right. Yeah, it's not a smooth surface. If you've ever looked at a basketball carefully, that's not a defect. It's what it needs to be. Right.

SPEAKER_02 24:58

They did that on purpose. They press it down and make bumps all over it.

SPEAKER_01 25:01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 25:02

So it still starts with a rubber bladder and then it's wrapped with 3,000 beaters of line nylon and polyester. How many? 3,000. Oh my word. It and that's what creates the bounce. Oh. A reliable bounce.

SPEAKER_01 25:17

I see.

SPEAKER_02 25:18

So the bladder is wrapped, and then the leather is put over over the and then the the eight panels of leather are glued onto it. Wow. And then it's vulcanized.

SPEAKER_01 25:28

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 25:29

That means heat is applied to kind of like suck the life into it. So the components. Okay. And then it it's tested, has to be inflated to 7.5 to 8.5 PSI. Right, right. And it's tested for roundness and bounce and air retention. Right. And then the brand and the logo are put on it. Right. You know. And they make fancy ones for um different tournaments. Right. Like um the NCAA. NCAA and the playoffs.

SPEAKER_01 26:02

Well, it's a different deal. Okay. NCAA has a different basketball. Right. Right. Okay. But for the pros, for the NBA, it's a size seven basketball. Okay. They do come in different sizes because if you buy a little mock-up version for a younger child, it might only be a size five five basketball. And you've seen little kids playing with balls that are a little bit smaller.

SPEAKER_02 26:23

Yeah, but those are made out of rubber.

SPEAKER_01 26:24

Rubber, too. Right. But it's and it's a 29.5 inch uh circumference. Right.

SPEAKER_02 26:31

Ideal size with a weight of about 20 to 22 ounces.

SPEAKER_01 26:35

Right. And the spaulding to Wilson thing just really happened in 2021. So that's was fairly recent in that whole uh transition that you mentioned.

SPEAKER_02 26:45

Right. So um and then you know what they do? They test the basketball. They have to break them in. Um and they they drop them from a six foot um height at twenty miles an hour. Wow. Fifty times. Wow. And the um and they have a machine that does that and that mimics, you know, like waist-high dribbling. Right. And they they named the machine Scotty Piston.

SPEAKER_00 27:19

That is great. I love that. I love I didn't know that. I didn't see that in my research, Melissa. Oh, that's so cool. That is so cool.

SPEAKER_02 27:26

Oh my god. And you know what? Those basketballs, then the basketballs are they cost like$200 a piece. Yeah, yeah. You know, and each team gets to start the the year with 72.

SPEAKER_01 27:40

They can get more if they have to. That number, yeah. So, okay, I was gonna say hold that thought because I want to go back to that whole process. What in my research, the leather basically comes from Iowa, so it's a Midwest, you know, is where the cows, you know, or the steers, did you say it was steer, steer leather, correct? It goes to Chicago. From Chicago, it goes overseas to have some of this done. And it could be Vietnam, it could be China, there's a couple other um uh Japan as well, uh, to do some of that processing that happens, and then it's sent back to Alabama for those final pieces that you were talking about, um, that it's four weeks on the machine, and basically that machine wakes up the leather so to make it happen. And then uh again, you know, you talked, I think that's interesting that there's um Scotty Piston, what's it called? Scotty Scotty Piston Scotty Piston is the machine that bounces the ball uh for as long as they need it bounced. You said four weeks. Did you say four weeks on that?

SPEAKER_02 28:41

No, I didn't say that.

SPEAKER_01 28:42

Anyway, a lot. I'm sure it's a lot to really make sure that it's where you want it.

SPEAKER_02 28:47

So yeah, but to really play with it uh in games, it has to go through more processing. That is, they give the balls to the teams in July. And the balls are used for practice to break them in. And the way they become uh better for handling in the NBA is with the sweat from the pla uh practice players' hands and the dirt from the court. Interesting. And it makes them tacky, yeah, yeah. So that they can hang on to it.

SPEAKER_01 29:18

And you see guys rub stuff on their hands before, you know, it's all at the scorer's table. Yeah. There is like some uh a paste or resin. Resin, you know, and it's not it's just not resin, it's a um like a um wax that's in a container, like a round container, and they rub, they rub their hand and then rub it together, and it's again to create that tackiness so that they've got their the grip that they want.

SPEAKER_03 29:43

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 29:44

So I think it's interesting then also how a ball then is ultimately selected. Yes. So it's not just here's your 72 basketballs, pick whatever you want. It's like a process that every every team in the NBA goes through pre-game.

SPEAKER_02 30:01

Yeah, yeah. The um the equipment manager picks out three balls for each game. Out of the 72, gives them to the referees, they check them for defects, right, for pressure, right, for all of the rest of the all the rest of the stuff. And then a player from each team feels all the basketballs. And that it's usually the captain. Exactly.

SPEAKER_01 30:25

Usually it can be um if it can also be uh the primary ball handler, right is something. Or the guard sometimes, the shooting guard as we talked about, uh, who's the kind of the floor general. Yeah. Go ahead.

SPEAKER_02 30:38

I think the point guard is the guy.

SPEAKER_01 30:40

I'm sorry, I said it and I knew that was not the right guard, and I should know this, you would think, but whatever. Okay. Okay.

SPEAKER_02 30:46

So then uh so they either agree on a ball, the two basketball players agree on a ball, or they each pick a ball and then the referee picks the third ball, and that's what they're gonna start with. Exactly, exactly.

SPEAKER_01 30:59

I think I thought that was really interesting. Exactly, exactly. I thought that was really cool that okay, so there they do. It sounds kind of like a really janky kind of a system, but it works. Yeah, and they have plan B already set up that it's the ref, and so be it, and let's play this game.

SPEAKER_02 31:17

And players are particular about what you know if they're gonna be able to do that.

SPEAKER_01 31:21

And it's the home team that that uh shares that uh basketball. Right because um there's what about 42 home games, not including uh playoffs, so um there's enough there then to they rotate the balls, they go back to practice, they go back to game balls, right, and all the rest.

SPEAKER_02 31:38

I just wanted to mention that those those special NBA balls are also used by the WNBA, the G League, and Basketball Africa League.

SPEAKER_01 31:50

Okay, so they all get their share of those and those things aren't cheap, I'm sure. They're probably hundreds of dollars. I didn't get two hundred each. Two hundred each? That's almost cheap. Yeah, I mean yeah, I mean it varies a little bit. Sure, sure. I guess because they probably buy thousands at a time, uh, you know, have to, hundreds of thousands even perhaps each year. Right, because of the W and the G League and Right, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 32:14

And that's why you know, if one lands in the audience, you you can't keep it.

SPEAKER_01 32:18

There's that's right, that's right. So yeah, people often wonder why can't I keep that as a souvenir? There is a good reason. There is a very good reason.

SPEAKER_02 32:25

And you know, college and high school, um they they use a different ball, it's right, it's synthetic. Right, right. Um, and it actually absorbs sweat better.

SPEAKER_01 32:35

Yeah, oh interesting. Okay. Okay.

SPEAKER_02 32:38

Yeah, so so there is a transition from college to to professional with the actual ball. Those balls are only like$125.

SPEAKER_01 32:47

Okay, and like I said, I don't those don't sound like I mean, everything's so expensive these days. I mean, that just doesn't that doesn't throw me for a loop. Maybe five or six hundred dollars per ball might have, but it's like, okay, whatever, whatever. Yeah, anyway. What a great topic, Phyllis. I'm so glad that we had a chance to uh talk about that and I'm looking to dig into it a little bit deeper. So until the next time.

SPEAKER_02 33:10

Be kind to each other out there.

SPEAKER_01 33:12

And remember life is better with basketball. Thanks for listening.