Here you can find the most common questions to Bench-Crew.

The official game balls – both from Wilson and Molten – are made of genuine leather, where most other balls are composite leather or rubber. The genuine leather ball needs to be broken in, meaning you have to use them for a while before they perform as you expect. But believe us – it’s worth the effort!

We are very picky about the things we sell. We only want to provide you with high-quality items that will not disappoint you. Therefore we will never have all the items you can find elsewhere. We want to select items for you that we know are good and we know will escalate your game. So we do not have thousands of different basketballs. We will have a couple of superb elite quality (the All-Star Gear) items in each category, a couple in our competitive level (the Starter Gear) and a few more in our price worthy Bench-Crew Gear level.

We do most of our business in Sweden, and are currently not actively selling on any other market.

We do however ship to more constries if you are interested in placing an order. For these orders we do need to charge a small fee for the shipping, wheras shipping in Sweden is free. The shipping fee will be calculated and added in the last step of the checkout process.

Countries we can ship to:

USA
Canada
Australia
Denmark

It will however take a few days to get the items there since we are operating out of Sweden. Normal delivery is 5-10 days. 

If you live in any other country but wish to place an order, please contact us at info@bench-crew.com and we can probably work something out.

Currently we work with DIBS Easy and Paypal because they are well known and trusted payment partners. With DIBS Easy you can use credit card or have an invoice sent to you by email. PayPal includes the ability to pay with both your PayPal account and your credit card if you don’t have a Paypal account.

High quality basketballs are made of genuine leather or composite leather (cheap balls are made of rubber). Balls that are made of genuine leather are generally considered to be the best ones and are used in the NBA and WNBA. They are also the most expensive type of balls.

Synthetic or composite leather is an artificial type of material that feels like leather but is cheaper to produce and the balls therefore are not as expensive as the leather balls. The materials are also more versatile and can be used both indoors and outdoors, although outdoor play wears the ball down quicker so we would not recommend it for the better composite balls.

The feel of a genuine leather basketball is completely different to the composite balls. NBA tried in 2006 to replace the leather ball with a composite ball, as the composite has a few advantages such as it does not need a break-in period and thus achieves consistency from ball to ball making the game more about how you play and not the material used. This is because genuine leather match balls used in top level games have been meticulously prepared through a 90-day process to become fully match ready. This also indicates that there may be differences between balls. The NBA, however, needed to reinstate the genuine leather balls in mid-season due to complaints from the players.

When you buy a genuine leather ball, such as the Molten GL7X or Spalding NBA Official basketball, you need to be aware that you need to break in the ball before you get that superior ball you paid for. If you do not want to go through that trouble, a high-quality composite ball such as the Molten GG7X is better for you. It is good enough to be used throughout the Euroleague so you will not be disappointed.

nd 1 is the name of the company that owns and runs the bench-crew site. The name originates from the and-one free throw you get when scoring while fouled. You get what you are supposed to, but also a little extra. A bonus.

First of all, only use the ball as intended. If it is a ball for indoor use, don’t use it outside. Make sure the air pressure is correct – not only that it “feels good” or have “good bounce”. If unsure we recommend getting a pressure gauge to ensure proper pressure. Always lubricate the needle before inflating the ball. If you are really serious it is a good idea to have several balls and alternate. After use it is a good idea to wipe it off with a damp cloth and then dry it with a dry cloth. For genuine leather balls, you can apply a small amount of oil or grease for leather balls (do not use oil on synthetic leather balls). Store it in a dry area at room temperatures. Always keep the ball with sufficient air pressure. Do not deflate the ball between games or practices. For us hard-core nerds it is ok to sleep with the ball in your bed.

We are located in Sweden and work under Swedish regulations, meaning that you can always return any items for whatever reason within 14 days as long as it is not used and still in original package. Just drop us an email at info@bench-crew.com and we will send you a RMA number and then you can return the items to us and we will provide a full refund. For more details, please see our returns policy .