Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly oil 3 (9-inch round) cake pans and line with parchment paper.

Combine the flour, sugar, salt, baking soda, and cocoa powder in a bowl until thoroughly combined. Create a well in the center of the dry ingredients, and add the vanilla, oil, vinegar, and water. Mix until just combined. Pour into your prepared pans, and bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into center comes out clean.

Cool on wire rack. To remove the cake from the pan, run a sharp knife around the inside of the pan to loosen cake. Cool completely before frosting.

Divide icing. Place 1 cup of frosting into a small bowl to leave white. Place ½ cup into a small bowl to color blue, ½ cup into another small bowl to color red and finally ½ cup into another small bowl to color black. Color remaining frosting orange. Fill and frost the cake with orange frosting by first putting a thin layer of frosting between the layers then frosting top and sides with a thin layer of orange frosting. Place cake in refrigerator for 2 hours or overnight to firm up. Then frosting cake with remaining orange frosting. Place the white frosting into a pastry bag fitted with a Wilton #5 round tip. Place the red frosting into a pastry bag fitted with a Wilton #16 star tip. Place the black frosting in a pastry bag fitted with a coupler, so you can use two different tips - first a Wilton #3 round tip, then a Wilton #16 star tip. Lastly, place the blue frosting into a pastry bag fitted with a Wilton #6 round tip.

To decorate, pipe a white diamond pattern on the sides of the cake to represent the net. Then pipe black lines on top with the #3 tip to look like a basketball. Pipe a black shell border around the base using the #16 tip. Pipe a red shell border around the top using a #16 tip. Pipe your message of choice on top using the blue frosting.

Serve immediately or store in refrigerator until read to serve. Store in refrigerator up to 3 days.