NewYork-Presbyterian Dalio Center for Health Justice has thrown a special-edition basketball to tip-off its sickle cell disease awareness campaign.
The healthcare system has committed $5 million to expand its sickle cell clinical programs and support services. In conjunction with the expansion, NewYork-Presbyterian has launched the Sickle Cell Awareness Ball campaign to get the word out about a chronic condition that affects more than 100,000 people in the U.S. Black and Hispanic Americans are disproportionately affected by sickle cell disease.
As part of the campaign, NewYork-Presbyterian has created a basketball to give to patients and hand out at community events. Most of the ball’s panels are black. The seams and other details, which include the NBA and Wilson logos, are gold. One panel is red.
The red panel represents a sickle cell, with its crescent shape echoing the form of the blood cells at the heart of the condition. The choice of colors is intended to ensure the red panel stands out, keeping the focus on sickle cell disease. NBA 2K25, a basketball video game that came out last week, includes the ball in its first season.
The campaign has a social component, with NewYork-Presbyterian encouraging people to film a trick shot and post it on social media using the hashtag #IBall4SickleCell. The tag has been used by a sports anchor who received one of the balls and by Next Step, an organization that is involved in the campaign and helps young people living with serious illness.
Gaby Stern, child life specialist, sickle cell disease program at NewYork-Presbyterian, discussed the aims of the campaign in a video on Instagram, explaining that the ball is intended to help patients start conversations about their condition and communicate what it means to have sickle cell.