When I was a kid, I’d dig the nail of my pointer finger into one of the many seams on my basketball, focus my eyes and attempt to count the tiny dots that covered its skin like goosebumps. I’d tally up a hundred or so. Grow bored. Lose count. Give up. And, start shooting.

They say there are 122 dots per square inch on a basketball. For a Men’s basketball, which is approximately 29.5 inches in circumference, this translates to roughly 35,000 dots.

Lebron James hurles all 35,000 of these dots at around 40 mph. When his teammates pluck these leather lightning bolts out of the air as if they’re nothing more than dove feathers, it appears impossible. But, it’s not.

It’s just a matter of perspective.

The dots on a basketball were first designed by Spalding to allow for a more sound grip. Basketballs are meant to be caught. The evidence is right there, etched across the basketball’s flesh. You just have to look closer.

It’s just a matter of perspective.

Sand a basketball down until it’s as smooth as silk and a lot more basketballs would wind up in the stands.

If I ever have a child that wants to play basketball, the first thing I will do before I ever let her shoot a basketball is remove the rim from the goal.

To a child, a rim hovering 10 feet in the air appears as small as the eye of a needle; the idea of successfully making a shot feels impossible. But, it’s not.

It’s just a matter of perspective.

When you place the rim on the ground and stand over it, you can see with your own two eyes that it is enormous. A basketball rim is 18 inches in diameter while a basketball is 9.5 inches in diameter. You can nearly fit two basketballs, side by side, into a single basketball rim.

It’s just a matter of perspective.

I remember. Five, six years old. My father holds me up in the air. He shows me just how big a hoop is. I can’t fathom it. I can’t fathom that this giant hoop that looks big enough to lasso the sun could possibly be the same hoop I am shooting on from the ground. But, it is.

It’s just a matter of perspective.

By Cole Schafer

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