NBA Finals to Use Basketballs Pre-Broken In by All 30 Teams Since January

The 2026 NBA Finals between the New York Knicks and San Antonio Spurs will use basketballs that have already been used by all 30 NBA teams since January. The league collects the balls after months of regular-season play and redistributes them for the series at Frost Bank Center and Madison Square Garden. Every January the NBA sends four Finals-branded basketballs to each team.

The balls are broken in during regular-season games before the league gathers them for the Finals. Wilson's basketballs are pre-produced and distributed months in advance for this purpose. Wilson became the NBA's official ball provider in the 2021-22 season.

5 inches in circumference and carries a 100% genuine leather cover. Wilson sources its leather from Chicago's Horween Leather Company. " The process includes pre-balancing each ball on a machine that dribbles rapidly and sending balls against a wooden panel.

Christopher Arena, the NBA's head of on-court and brand partnerships, said the league wants teams to have game-ready basketballs rather than out-of-the-box ones for the Finals. "Obviously, this is the most pivotal series of games we have. And so, you want them to have, I keep using game-ready, but game-ready basketballs which is different than out-of-the-box basketballs," Arena told ESPN.

Under the previous supplier Spalding, used game balls were returned for laser-engraving with the NBA Finals script. Wilson's process relies on advance distribution and mechanical break-in instead. Game 2 of the 2026 NBA Finals is scheduled for Friday.

The article was published on June 5, 2026.