Wilson’s Airless Gen1 Basketball features an intricate polymer lattice structure crafted from a proprietary elastomeric material that is flexible, durable, and, more importantly, bouncy. In layman’s terms, a 3D lattice structure works on the principle of connecting repeating patterns into a three-dimensional shape, offering tons of flexibility in the types of products one can craft. The right combination of geometry, stiffness, stability, and impact absorption, paired with the Airless Gen 1 Basketball’s perforated design, makes it bounce so well.
Produced in collaboration with EOS, the basketball is made using lasers that bind layers of a polymer powder into the 3D design that’s been fed into the printer. The ball is then sealed and dyed according to specification. EOS, the 3D printing company that usually produces for the aerospace, medical, and automotive industries, claimed that additive manufacturing using a 3D printer was the only way the conceptualized airless basketball could be brought to life.
The finished products would then be sent to the NBA’s task facility in Ohio, where all parameters of the ball would be rigorously tested. The result? A basketball that doesn’t come with any of the drawbacks of deflation or pressure change due to temperature — and one that nearly fits all NBA regulations in size, weight, and bounce.
