WILSON UNVEILS OFFICIAL NBA MATCH BALL, WELCOMES TRAE YOUNG AND JAMAL MURRAY TO ADVISORY BOARD

Wilson Sporting Goods Co., teamed up with the National Basketball Association (NBA), to unveil the league's new official match ball in advance of the NBA's 75th anniversary season, at the same time welcoming NBA stars Trae Young and Jamal Murray to the Wilson Advisory Board.

The reveal marks the start of a multi-year partnership that will welcome the NBA's first official basketball maker - Wilson - back to the game, PR Newswire reported.

The official Wilson NBA match ball is made from the same materials, eight-field configuration, and performance specifications as the league's current match balls and is made from the same leather currently used in the NBA.

Last year, the NBA and the National Basketball Players Association (NBPA) worked with Wilson to develop and release the new game ball through team evaluation meetings. The game ball features the iconic NBA and Wilson logos, with the Wilson logo also featuring an anthracite inline.

"Wilson is excited to combine our history and heritage with the NBA to bring the game of basketball to the global stage," said Kevin Murphy, general manager, Wilson Team Sports. "After we began our partnerships with the WNBA and the BAL We will continue to build for the future of the sport. Wilson will focus first on supporting the league and its players with its high-performance match balls and then expanding our basketball family to include fans, coaches and players at all levels and at the reach all over the world."

"Our partnership with Wilson comes alive to coincide with our 75th anniversary season," said Salvatore LaRocca, NBA President, Global Partnerships. "Wilson is returning as the official match ball of the NBA for the first 37 seasons of the league, building on our shared history and looks ahead to the league's continued growth."

The Official NBA Match Ball from Wilson will make its on-field debut at the Microsoft Surface NBA Draft Combine 2021, running Monday June 21 through Sunday June 27. The game ball will be used from 29. July in the USA to be available exclusively on wilson.com, in line with the NBA Draft 2021 presented by State Farm. Additional Wilson products licensed by the NBA will be available throughout the summer through major retail partners worldwide, including NBAStore.com, Amazon, and others.

Wilson will also introduce the first members of the NBA Advisory Staff - 2020 NBA All-Star Trae Young and 2016 NBA Draft Pick Jamal Murray as the new game ball is revealed. Young and Murray will become official members of the Wilson Advisory Staff Conduct playtests, provide feedback, and collaborate on Wilson basketball products."

Joining Wilson's advisory board was perfect for me," said Young. "I've been using their basketballs since I was a kid - from hooping in my driveway to playing in college. It's exciting to see Wilson get into the NBA and that I have a say in how they show up on and off the field."

Young and Murray join a growing roster of Wilson Basketball Advisory Staff, including three-time WNBA All-Star Liz Cambage, FIBA ​​3x3 stars Dušan Bulut and Migna Touré, renowned skills coach Chris Brickley and tastemaker Beija Velez with additional players to be announced later this season.

Wilson’s partnership with the NBA milestones will be reached later in 2021 with announcements and activations in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA), NBA G League, NBA 2K League, and Basketball Africa League (BAL), as well as in the 75th Anniversary season of the NBA continued.

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