Basketball's Sweat smell of success.

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Kurt Robinson wasn't at all interested in sweat until four years ago, when he saw how ball boys dried the basketball court after drenched 7-footers tumbled to the floor. "The kid had a stick with a towel wrapped around it, and the whole thing was held together with duct tape," said Robinson, a former basketball referee and recreational league administrator. "I thought, 'Man, they have to have something better than that.'" They do now, courtesy of Robinson, who two years ago founded No Sweat Wipe LLC, a closely held company in Garden Grove. No Sweat Wipe makes a moisture-picker-upper that's used by 24 of the National Basketball Association's 29 franchises. It also serves at volleyball games and boxing matches. "My goal is to be in every gym in the world," said Robinson. For ball boys, soaking up sweat can be a dangerous undertaking. They dash onto the court when the action is at the other end, clean the sweat up from the hardwood so players don't slip, and then scurry off before getting steam-rolled by a 300-pound center finishing a fast break. Robinson described the No Sweat Wipe as a 24-inch disc that's made of a two-ply towel with a sponge-like material in between. And, unlike its primitive predecessors, tape isn't needed. "I like it because it's simple, easy to implement and has obvious value," said Mavericks owner Mark Cuban. Robinson, who sells a set of two mops for $500, doesn't charge NBA teams. Even so, he said No Sweat Wipe would reap "millions" in revenue this year. His plan calls for teams to sell advertising on the two-foot mop's top, then split the revenue with No Sweat Wipe. Film companies, soft-drink makers and clothing companies have inquired about advertising on the mop, said Robinson. He declined to name them because contracts haven't been signed. Cuban said he could probably get as much as $5,000 from a company wanting its logo on the mop, which appears before thousands of fans during games and occasionally gets shown on TV. "It's not looney," said Eric Wright, a vice president at Joyce Julius & Associates, a Michigan-based firm that gauges the value of sports sponsorships. "Since it's on the court, the mop appears before a lot of eyeballs every night." No Sweat Wipe caught the eye of New York Knicks trainer Mike Saunders during a game against the Los Angeles Clippers, who were the first NBA team to use it. Robinson approached Clippers trainer Jasen Powell, who said he was skeptical at first. "I have a lot of vendors trying to sell me things," Powell said. "But the mop is eye-catching and it works real well."Shaquille O'Neal of the Lakers and former referee Hugh Hollins are among the NBA insiders who have done unpaid testimonials for No Sweat Wipe. "Shaq is a big, heavy sweater," Robinson said. In New York, the mops are even drawing comments from the crowd, said Knicks ball boy Michael Brady, a 19-year-old sophomore at Fordham University in the Bronx. "I've gotten compliments on it," said Brady, who is paid $50 a game. "They call it a space mop."