Under a truly strict reading of the law, there might be some problems since the guy might not itemize deductions, in which case there's a pretty modest limit to the total value of charitable deductions he can make, which he might not have declared anyhow. Which might or might not be a problem depending on the dollar value of the ball he received and immediately gave away, if the whole thing came to the attention of the IRS. They theoretically might potentially want him to refile and itemize his deductions if they had an opinion about the value of the ball, and that refiling could affect his refund for that year by a small amount.

This all falls pretty firmly in the "who gives a shit?" area of tax law.

You’re right. Misremembered the case where the ball had appreciated. Same behavior.