Global Impressions
Audience reach generated across entertainment, business, sport, and culture.
The Ball Foundation
Where Legacy Meets Innovation in Elite Sports History
Executive Profile · The BALL Foundation
Kiarash Behain
Chief Executive Officer & Co-Founder
Media strategist, creative operator, and cultural architect working at the intersection of sports, entertainment, technology, and global attention.
Kiarash Behain is a media executive and strategic innovator known for shaping digital culture at scale. Featured by Forbes as social media's best kept secret, his work has generated more than six billion impressions across campaigns for public figures, Fortune 500 companies, major films, music releases, and television.
As the former CEO of Rundown Media, he built a career around the mechanics of attention and the discipline required to turn a moment into lasting cultural relevance. At The BALL Foundation, he applies that experience to a larger mandate: preserving an irreplaceable sports artifact and building the media, technology, partnerships, and public experiences that carry its story forward.
Forbes · Executive Profile
Social Media's Best Kept Secret
A profile of the strategic mind behind billions of digital impressions and a career built on understanding how culture moves.
READ THE FORBES PROFILEA Career Across Culture
The Cultural Record
Work developed at the meeting point of entertainment, sport, technology, leadership, and global conversation.
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Entertainment & Culture
Kiarash Behain with Shawn “JAY-Z” Carter.
Strategic Experience
Campaign and advisory work spanning global companies and public figures.
Connected Disciplines
Media strategy, viral marketing, emerging technology, and cultural development.
Live Conversation · Cultural LeadershipKiarash Behain with NBA legend Scottie Pippen, Michael Saylor, and Maurice “Mr. Moe” Gallegos.
Host & Media Personality
Conversations That Move Culture
Kiarash is a live host and media personality known for thoughtful conversations with leaders across entertainment, business, sport, and technology. His interviews focus on the decisions, pressure, and personal stories behind public success.
The result is not simply an appearance. It is a clear, direct exchange designed to inform an audience and preserve the ideas shaping the moment.
Foundation Mandate
About the Ball Foundation
The BALL Foundation preserves the Game 5 Ball, the basketball used on June 12, 1991, when the Chicago Bulls won their first NBA championship. Scottie Pippen kept the ball and protected it for more than three decades. Today, it anchors a cultural platform spanning original media, interactive experiences, technology, education, and community programs. The mission is direct: protect the artifact, document its provenance, and create new ways for future generations to experience the history it carries.
01Protect the Artifact02Preserve the Record03Extend the Legacy
Provenance · Archive 001
The Story of
GAME 5 BALL
On June 12, 1991, the Chicago Bulls defeated the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 5 of the NBA Finals to win the franchise’s first championship. Scottie Pippen kept the game ball and preserved it for more than three decades.
Today, The BALL Foundation stewards that one-of-one artifact and its digital twin. The work extends the ball’s history through original media, playable worlds, AI, education, exhibitions, and community programs while keeping the physical artifact and its provenance at the center.
DateJune 12, 1991EventNBA Finals · Game 5StewardThe BALL Foundation
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Founder & Steward
Our Founder
Naismith Hall of Famer · Six-Time Champion
Scottie Pippen is a Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Famer, six-time NBA champion, and two-time Olympic gold medalist. After preserving the Game 5 Ball for more than three decades, he established The BALL Foundation to protect its history and pass the story forward through media, technology, education, and community impact.
The Platform
What Ball is Building
One historic artifact. Five connected disciplines. A cultural platform built from verified history.
Intelligent Character
AI Agent & Personality
BALL is the world’s first trash-talking basketball, an interactive AI personality built from the character and history of the Game 5 Ball. It gives the artifact a voice across live conversation, original storytelling, games, and community experiences without replacing the provenance of the physical ball.
Flagship Experience
Fortnite & Playable Worlds
DON’T DROP THE BALL brings the Game 5 Ball’s digital twin into a stylized 1991 basketball world inside Fortnite. Players compete to control the ball using island code 8996-5981-8979. This flagship experience sits alongside MEME BALL, mobile play, community tournaments, and future interactive worlds.
Film & Original Media
Intellectual Property
A “GAME 5 BALL” documentary is currently in development alongside original films and cultural stories. The work is designed to turn verified history into enduring intellectual property across documentary, short-form media, publishing, and select collaborations.
Connected Digital Layer
Multi-Chain Universe
BALL is designed to maintain one verified digital identity across supported blockchain networks. The multichain layer keeps provenance, access, and community participation connected under one brand.
History in Motion
Educational & Storytelling Experiences
Exhibitions, school programs, public conversations, and original media place the artifact inside the larger story of sport, teamwork, culture, and technological change.
The Next Chapter
Vision for the Future
The foundation extends verified history through four focused disciplines:
Original Media
Documentary, short-form film, publishing, and licensed cultural storytelling.
Technology & Provenance
Digital provenance, AI, and connected systems that extend access without compromising the artifact.
Playable Experiences
Fortnite, mobile games, tournaments, and interactive formats built around the ball’s digital twin.
Cultural Partnerships
Selective work with brands, institutions, creators, and communities that respects the history.
Community ImpactBALL Cares
Ball Cares
Community, Opportunity, Access
BALL Cares focuses the foundation’s reach on practical programs that expand opportunity through education, wellness, and sport.
- Neighborhood Court and Community Investment
- Support for Single-Parent Households
- Education and Scholarship Access
- Youth Sports Equipment and League Support
- Nutrition and Wellness Programs
The Mandate
Goals & Initiatives
The BALL Foundation is committed to:
Preservation
Protecting the physical artifact, its provenance, and its complete historical record.
Innovation
Building responsible media, gaming, AI, and digital experiences around verified history.
Impact
Directing attention and resources toward education, youth sports, wellness, and community access.
Press Archive
Ball in Forbes
Partnerships & Inquiries
Start a Conversation
For cultural programs, media, institutional partnerships, and community initiatives.
CONTACT THE FOUNDATIONThe BALL Foundation · Los Angeles