Upgrade your basketball skills with Reigning Champ’s spin on the classic arcade game

Reigning Champ partners with industrial designer Calen Knauf to create the Home Court Arcade Basketball Game, a contemporary take on an arcade classic

Reigning Champ basketball arcade game, and close-up of basketballs
(Image credit: Courtesy of Reigning Champ)
By Tianna Williams
published

Reigning Champ has remastered a classic arcade game in a new collaboration with Canadian industrial designer Calen Knauf (following its 2023 partnership with Japanese label Junya Watanabe MAN on a motocross-inspired clothing collection). The Home Court Arcade Basketball Game is a contemporary take on the original, and unites elevated craftsmanship with playful functionality.

Reigning Champ Home Court Arcade Basketball Game

Reigning Champ basketball arcade game made of wood and glass front photo

(Image credit: Courtesy of Reigning Champ)

Knauf stripped back the classic arcade game to showcase a crisp, functional design constructed out of natural materials, and in tune with the Vancouver-based athletic-wear label’s minimalist design ethos.

No mere showcase for Knauf’s artistry, however, the Home Court Arcade Basketball Game also elevates the quality of gameplay. Throughout the year-long design process, Knauf perfected authentic acoustics, using wood panelling for the main foundation and backboard, specially crafted by Vancouver-based design studio Workbench to mimic the sound of a basketball on a hardwood court. 

Close up of the silk and cotton hand tied basketball net

(Image credit: Courtesy of Reigning Champ)

Tempered glass side panels allow for the ball’s easy return to the player. Below, a large storage space holds ten cream leather game balls (smaller than an average-sized basketball). Final details include stainless steel hardware, cotton and silk hand-knotted nets, and rubber wheels for manoeuvrability. 

In a wireless world, Knauf decided to include visible cables as part of the design, a nostalgic nod to the original arcade game. Sensors are built in to keep an accurate track of points scored with each satisfying swoop of the net.

Basketball swooping through the net

(Image credit: Courtesy of Reigning Champ)

The Home Court Basketball Game is made to order, with a flat-pack composition for convenient assembly. It’s a slam dunk for the games room.

reigningchamp.com

Reigning Champ basketball arcade game made of wood and glass side angle

(Image credit: Courtesy of Reigning Champ)

Close-up of the electrical system that powers the basketball game

(Image credit: Courtesy of Reigning Champ)
Tianna Williams

Tianna Williams is the Editorial Executive at Wallpaper*. Before joining the team in 2023, Williams taught scuba diving for three years before heading into journalism. Previously she has been involved covering social media and editorial for BBC Wales, Ford UK, SurfGirl Magazine, and Parisian Vibe, while also completing an MA in Magazine Journalism at Cardiff University. Her work covers writing across varying content pillars for Wallpaper*.

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