A father and son built the brand in 2022 after noticing every ball in the gym carried somebody else’s name. This season, it is back.
Nationwide — Oronde Booker, the Founder and CEO of BookDawg Sports, the Atlanta-based basketball brand recognized in national coverage as the first Black-owned athletic supply company, is celebrating four years in business with the rebranding of its line of indoor game balls and training equipment for the upcoming 2027 season. The brand returns to market with the HARDWORK indoor game ball, the DATW3RK indoor game ball, and the H3AVY three-pound training ball, sold directly to players, coaches, and youth programs through its online store.
The brand was founded in 2022 by Oronde and his son Kendall, who was 14 at the time. Oronde had spent years in gyms as a player, a coach, and a father in the stands, and he kept noticing the same thing. The equipment used by players, trainers, and coaches was made by a handful of companies, and none of them were Black-owned. So he and Kendall built their own. The company’s first ball, the HW101, shorthand for Hard Work 101, is the same ball sold today as the HARDWORK.
“Black people have contributed so much to sports. We have attracted the fans, redefined the game, and shaped its culture, yet so few of us are found behind the ball, particularly in an industry like sports equipment,” he said. “That was the gap. We built BookDawg to stand in it.”
The launch drew national attention. Black Enterprise, Who’s Who In Black, the Black Information Network, Rolling Out, and Because of Them We Can all covered the father and son story, and Booker appeared on the Lou Hutt Show on SiriusXM Urban View in October 2022. At the time, U.S. wholesale sales of basketballs totaled an estimated $286 million in 2021, per Statista, an industry the founders entered with no manufacturing background and no industry connections.
“One of the things we have heard over and over from customers is about how it feels,” he said. “A player knows when he has found the perfect ball by how it feels in his hands. We are glad we can consistently deliver that.”
The 2026 relaunch arrives with a renewed focus on serious players. BookDawg positions its products not as budget alternatives but as genuine indoor game balls built to a player’s standard. The H3AVY three-pound ball serves as a dedicated training tool for players building strength and control before game day, and the company plans to release the ST3RDY indoor-outdoor ball in the coming months.
“My brand is for the players who are in the gym before the doors open and still there when the lights go off,” Oronde said. “Hard work still matters. That never changed. We just make a ball that respects it.”
BookDawg Sports products are available with free shipping on orders over $75. The company continues to invest a percentage of each purchase into nonprofits that support young Black players who could not otherwise afford to play.
About
BookDawg Sports is a Black-owned basketball brand based in Atlanta, Georgia, founded in 2022 by Oronde Booker and his son Kendall. Recognized in national coverage as the first Black-owned athletic supply company, the brand designs and sells indoor game balls, training balls, and basketball gear for serious players, coaches, and youth programs. The brand exists to put quality equipment in the hands of the players who put in the work, and to make sure the next generation can look down at the ball and see themselves represented. Learn more at BookDawgSports.com
Also, be sure to follow the brand on Instagram @therealbookdawgsports
For press inquiries, contact info@bookdawgsports.com