BALL26 · NBA ABC Challenge

The Trophy Case

How Badges Work.

Every run earns badges — permanent proof of what you know and how you play. They collect in your Trophy Case, and the deeper your basketball knowledge runs, the rarer they get.

266Badges7Families5Tiers1Founder class

Start your collection

Your first badge is one run away. No account needed to play.

The Ranks

Climb the crown.

Every badge ladder climbs tier by tier. The crown metal tells everyone how far you've gone.

AccessibleEntryEntryThe way in. Start with the 3-day streak.

RookieTier 1Tier 1The first rung in most sets. Your name is on the board.

VeteranTier 2Tier 2You know your stuff. Silver crown, real respect.

GOATTier 3Tier 3The top of most ladders. The flex.

LegendaryRare airRare airFounder, and the 50- and 100-day streaks. Almost nobody gets here.

First, what isn't a badge

Your stats

Tracked, but not badgesSome numbers follow you as records, not tiers you climb: your best score, your longest streak, your speed, your Cup reigns. They live next to your badges — records ride on the day's challenge and have no finish line, so they stay records.

Also on the shelf

The Daily Cup

A title, not a ladderEach morning the Cup goes to yesterday's top score — you hold it until someone takes it, and your lifetime days-held only ever goes up. You need an account to claim it: guests can top the leaderboard, but the Cup belongs to registered players.

Were you here first?

The Founder badge

Play early,
stay a FounderPlay before the 2027 All-Star break and you're a Founder. No cap on how many earn it — but once the window closes, it's closed for good.

Two ways to be great

Deep or broad

Go deepIdentity badges reward knowing one subject cold — every Knick, every Duke alum, every name from the 90s.

Go wideBreadth badges reward range — players from many teams and every era, not just your one lane.

The Collection

The Trophy Case

Seven badge families. Knowledge families climb on how much of a subject you know.

Your first badge lands inWeek 18Players from
a franchise3From
a school5On
a letterThat's a badge. The bars come from what real players actually put up, not from pool size, so the schools and teams you know best pay off fastest. Gold stays a season-long chase. Every pick counts, deep cuts included.

Teamall 30 teams

Know a franchise's players — current stars down to forgotten names.

FanHistorianOracle

College28 schools

Name alumni of the real NBA pipelines — the schools that stock league rosters.

FreshmanFraternityGraduate

Era5 eras

Know a slice of NBA history — Pioneers, Showtime, Jordan, Y2K, Modern.

HooperHoop BeastHoop God

Letter21 letters

Master a single letter — from the common names to the deep cuts.

SpecialistMasterLegend

Team Breadthacross the league

Not one team deep — name players from 5, 25, then all 30 franchises. A player reps a franchise only with real tenure there: 20+ games, not a cameo.

ScoutGMCommissioner

Raritythe deep cuts

Name the obscure players almost nobody else reaches for.

Deep CutDiehardPhD

Streakdays in a row

The one you can grab in week one — show up, day after day.

3 days7 days14 days30 days50 days100 days

Earning them

How you collect

1Just play.Badges land the instant you earn them, straight from your daily runs. Sign in and they stay yours.

2Watch the progress.Every locked badge shows how close you are and exactly what's left to earn it.

3Go deeper.Every new name you pull from memory counts somewhere — and the obscure ones nobody else plays are how you climb the Rarity ladder.

Two courts, one case

Open Gym vs BALL26

Knowledge badges grow in bothTeam, College, Era, Letter, Team Breadth, and Rarity badges count every player you name from memory — in Open Gym or in BALL26. Your book is your book, wherever you build it. In Open Gym you can earn only the first badge of each ladder. The rungs above it unlock in BALL26: once your count is there, your next BALL26 run hands them over.

Day streaks count in bothFinish a run in Open Gym or BALL26 and the day counts toward your streak. Miss a day and it starts over. Streak badges are a ladder too: the first one can land in Open Gym, and the longer ones unlock in BALL26.

Clock badges are BALL26-onlyAnything earned against the game itself, like single-run scores, perfect runs and speed, only counts in BALL26. Open Gym has no clock and no lives, so a run there can’t claim badges built on beating them.

Assist reveals never countA name the Assist button handed you isn't a name you knew. Revealed picks score a flat 10 and add nothing to badge progress — in either mode. Only players you pull from memory build your case.

Your trophy case is waiting.

Play BALL26

Every run counts. Your first badge could be today.