Reigning Champ Beats the Buzzer

1981 was a big year for basketball — just not necessarily on the court. For, while the Boston Celtics were beating out the Houston Rockets to the NBA Championship, a college basketball coach named Ken Cochran was recovering from heart surgery in Kansas. At a loose end, Cochran decided to bring his favourite sport home. So, by using a series of small basketball rims and a spare volleyball net, along with a frame built by a nearby machine shop and backboards cut by his local cabinetmaker, the coach created the Triple Shot — the world’s very first basketball arcade game.

Four decades — and millions of points — later, and Cochran’s Pop-A-Shot machines can be found in arcades and man caves the world over, with the brand’s more modern models featuring digital scoreboards, infrared sensors, and multiple game modes. There are pretenders and pale imitations of the original, but also luxurious, more expensive spins on the idea. Reigning Champ’s latest launch, a collaboration with Canadian industrial designer Calen Knauf, falls squarely in that second, higher-end hoop.

Led by the award-winning Knauf, a year-long process of development and design trials streamlined and spruced up the concept of a basketball game, and banished plastics in favour of hardwood and tempered glass. The idea was to muster the spirit and feel of a real basketball court, then condense it into an arcade-ready package.

There’s lots to love about the “Home Court.” We particularly like how retro it feels; despite the minimalist design, there’s a departure from modern, wireless trends. The machine also features visible cables to give it a tactile, more nostalgic flavour — one that stands in contrast to the clean, bright colours of its stark design.

Each machine will be made-to-order, and those lucky enough to land one will also receive 10 branded white leather basketballs, housed in a large storage space in the machine’s lower tier. The rims are cast from powder-coated steel and, for its final flourish, the nets are hand-knotted from cotton and silk sourced from a Vancouver-based artisan. If you’ve got pockets deep enough ($50,000), and a space in your basement, surely this one’s a slam dunk.

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