This Map-Print Basketball Hurts My Brain

Spalding map-print basketball available at Urban OutfittersThere is something decidedly off about a map-print basketball that stretches a Mercator projection across the basketball’s surface instead of, you know, doing it like a globe. Why? Why would they do such a thing?

It’s a Spalding ball exclusive to Urban Outfitters, it costs $29, and it hurts my brain. [r/Maps]