Where Legacy Meets Innovation in Elite Sports History
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.
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.
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.
One historic artifact. Five connected disciplines. A cultural platform built from verified history.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Exhibitions, school programs, public conversations, and original media place the artifact inside the larger story of sport, teamwork, culture, and technological change.
The foundation extends verified history through four focused disciplines:
Documentary, short-form film, publishing, and licensed cultural storytelling.
Digital provenance, AI, and connected systems that extend access without compromising the artifact.
Fortnite, mobile games, tournaments, and interactive formats built around the ball’s digital twin.
Selective work with brands, institutions, creators, and communities that respects the history.
Community ImpactBALL Cares focuses the foundation’s reach on practical programs that expand opportunity through education, wellness, and sport.
The BALL Foundation is committed to:
Protecting the physical artifact, its provenance, and its complete historical record.
Building responsible media, gaming, AI, and digital experiences around verified history.
Directing attention and resources toward education, youth sports, wellness, and community access.
For cultural programs, media, institutional partnerships, and community initiatives.
CONTACT THE FOUNDATIONThe BALL Foundation · Los Angeles
