The best Basketball in the world for indoor use only, you cannot use it outdoor which sucks, most People play outside BB and most of us don't play like Michael Jordon, so their is really no need for this ball unless you are an NBA player or have some source of using a ball indoors on hardwood floors.....

good god, why would people waste their time, rating a basketball. yall have no lives! good god! what boring lives yall lead.

First of all, this ball is definitely for indoor, hardwood floor use only. If it is played with even once outside, on cement or even a concrete or tile floor, you could seriously chew up the leather within an hour and kill the grip. That said, this is the best indoor basketball given its durability. When it is brand new, the leather is slick and stiff, making it slippery and somewhat hard to handle. The leather has to be broken in before you can realize the true quality of the ball. After about 30 total hours of play, the leather softens up a lot and the pebbles in the grain wear down enough to give it a nice tacky grip. The ball may not be fully broken in for a month or two after you buy it, but once it is, it becomes obvious why the NBA chooses this as its official ball. Other synthetic leather balls are ready to be played with right off the shelf and have a better grip than the Spalding Game Ball. The Wilson Evolution and Wilson Jet balls have great grip and a nice tacky/sticky feel, but their grip wears down relatively fast. After about a year, the composite leather begins chipping down and these balls become slick. The Spalding Game Ball will last longer than your playing career. The older the leather, the better the grip. Keep in mind, this is only on indoor hardwood floors. I highly recommend this ball to serious players who play indoor basketball enough to benefit from its high price and high quality.