Autographed 2008-2009 Charlotte Bobcats basketball owned by Robert L. Johnson: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

An autographed leather basketball owned by Robert L. Johnson. The ball has eight orange panels with black ribs. Three of the eight panels have text printed on them. One panel has black printed text that reads [COMPETATIVE INDOOR/OUTDOOR / [NBA logo] NBA / Zi/0 EXCEL]. The logo is a gold outlined, black rectangle with rounded edges featuring a stylized, gold graphic of a man dribbling a basketball next to gold text on the left that reads [NBA] inside the rectangle. On the far right is a barcode. Another panel has black text that reads [SPALDING®]. The third panel with text features a black outlined rectangle with rounded edges. At the center of the rectangle is the inflation valve with black text printed around it in text of varying sizes and fonts that reads [SPALDING] at the top with [Inflate / 7 to 9 lbs. / Made in China] to the left and [ZI/0 EXCEL / Composite / Leather / BAW] to the right of the inflation valve. Below the box is small black printed text that reads [U.S. PATENT # 6.206.795]. Many of the orange panels feature autographs from the Charlotte Bobcats players. Autographs include: Player #21 Alexis Ajinça, [AA / 21]; Player #14 D. J. Augustin, [D.J. / #14]; Player #19 Raja Bell, [RB / #19]; Player #1 Andre Brown, [A Brown]; Player #12 Shannon Brown, [SB #12]; Player #13 Matt Carroll, [MC 13]; Player #4 Jared Dudley, [JT /D 4]; Player #15 Ryan Hollins, [Rh#15]; Player #42 Sean May, [SB]; Player #6 Nazr Mohammed, [Nz Mohammed]; Player #10 Vladimir Radmanovic, [Radmanovic], Player #44 Sean Singletary, [SS]; and Player #23 Jason Richardson, [JR].

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 2008-2009
• Manufactured by: Spalding, American, founded 1876
• Owned by: Robert L. Johnson, American, born 1946
• Subject of: Charlotte Hornets, American, founded 1988
• Subject of: National Basketball Association, American, founded 1946
• Subject of: Alexis Ajinça, French, born 1988
• Subject of: D.J. Augustin, American, born 1987
• Subject of: Raja Bell, American, born 1976
• Subject of: Andre Brown, American, born 1981
• Type: basketballs
• Medium: ink on imitation leather
• Dimensions: H x W x D: 9 1/2 × 9 1/2 × 9 1/2 in. (24.1 × 24.1 × 24.1 cm)
• Place collected: Bethesda, Montgomery County, Maryland, United States, North and Central America
• Place made: China, Asia
• Place used: Charlotte, Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Athletes
• Topic: Basketball
• Topic: Black Enterprise
• Topic: Business
• Topic: Sports
• Topic: Television
• Object number: 2020.16.2
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Robert L. Johnson, Founder of Black Entertainment Television (BET) and First African American Majority Owner of a National Basketball Association Team, The Charlotte Bobcats
• Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of African American History and Culture through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed. The underlying object's rights statement is: © National Basketball Association Permission required for use. Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.