New Airless Basketball Will Be Sold At Low, Low Price Of $2,500

It’s been a while since we first heard about Wilson’s “Airless Gen1” basketballs, but they will finally be made available to the public through the company’s website on Feb. 16.

The innovative ball, which is 3D printed and has a bunch of holes in it, can be purchased by anyone who just so happens to have $2,500 laying around.

You heard us.

If you’re wondering what makes this thing so special, you can check out the video Wilson made to hype up its release. The NBA’s basketball manufacturer seems to be quite proud of their achievement (?) which helps explain the ludicrous price. We were going to make a joke about how they’ll probably make someone use it in the NBA Dunk Contest this year, but Kenyon Martin Jr. already did it last year.

That doesn’t mean this thing is ready to be played with, though. That would be absurd.

“We still don’t have a full grasp on how they would perform in that setting,” Wilson innovation manager Nadine Lippa told Fast Company. “Any material scientist would say the best way to test a product is put it out in the field and hear back from the people that are actually using it.”

It’s an airless basketball, so though it seems to be a completely unnecessary invention, it’s probably a safe bet that enough people will be willing to burn $2,500 just to say they have it.

It must be nice to have that kind of scratch.