Spalding Never Flat Basketball Review

I love playing basketball, and even though I don't get to do it as often as I would like, I have an outdoor hoop that gets used as often as I can find time.  I wanted to buy a new basketball to use, and I came across a new one that Spalding started selling about a year ago.  Now that I have had it for nearly a year myself, I feel I can give a fair review of how well it has held up.  I purchased the Spalding Never-Flat, because I thought it would be the perfect basketball for my needs.  Time and time again, I have lost the needles needed to pump up a typical basketball, and finding one that I might never have to pump up again seemed like a treat that was too good to be true.

The Spalding Never-Flat comes already pumped up, and when you purchase it, they advertise that the ball will stay filled 10 times as long as a normal basketball.  Instead of wondering constantly whether you will have to carry around a pump to put air in the ball, you get a product that is going to last for quite some time.  After a year of owning the ball, I have still not had to put air in the ball a single time.  I live in an area that has cold winters and hot summers, so it has seen many climates inside, but it has still held up very well.  Playing on an outdoor court, it has done well in both the summer and winter, but there is some slight wear on the ball itself when used on cold concrete.  I guess that is understandable in the scheme of things, but the ball still works well for my needs.

According to the packaging of the Spalding Never-Flat, it contains a new membrane and NitroFlate air technologies that help to prevent air seepage from occurring with the ball.  With a typical basketball, over time, the air will start to seep out the cracks of the material, and you will have to manually pump up the ball.  With the Spalding Never-Flat, the seepage is almost non-existent, and the redesigned cap helps to not only keep the air inside the ball, but dirt from getting inside the ball.  They finish off the ball with a premium PU coating that helps with performance in the outdoors.  I think that it works pretty well to protect the ball, but as with just about every basketball, concrete can really wear down the grip on a basketball.

The Spalding Never-Flat has worked exactly as advertised, and has held up very well in a years worth of use.  The material used for this ball has kept the air inside, and the ball looks like it could last another couple of years without needing to be replaced.  If the ball does get flat after a couple years of use, it has the ability to be pumped up using your average bicycle pump, but it may be a while before you have to do that.  This ball has a really nice grip to it, feels very nice coming off the hand when taking a shot, and has really been worth the $30.00 that I spent for it at a local store.  It is one that I can easily recommend, and one that has held up very well during my use.