I'm in Australia and we don't have them, thank goodness, but from the motoring magazines I've read it looks like they originated in Mexico, like bouncing suspension and sparklers out the back.

According to wiki: The invention of the spinner is attributed to David Fowlkes Jr. Fowlkes graduated from Rufus King High School in Milwaukee, Wisconsin before moving on to the Minneapolis College of Art and Design when he was 17. With a sketch and a prototype Fowlkes created the first spinner for a design project in 1990. The prototype then remained stored until 1998 when Fowlkes was working at Reebok and met his future business partners, Hank Seemore, and Ian Hardman. Together the three formed Davin Wheels with a $250,000 loan from the Rhode Island Economic Development Corp. Spinners were then introduced to the public at the Los Angeles Auto Show. When Davin Wheels was unable to obtain a booth at the Auto Show, they were invited to join another vendor at the show, NBA star Latrell Sprewell's Sprewell Racing (Coincidentally, Sprewell is a Milwaukee native). For this reason spinners are sometimes also called "Sprewells". Davin Wheels holds the only patent (U.S. Patent 6554370) for the spinning technology, called the continuous motion wheel.

It was probably some hillbilly in WV(no offense if you live there).

Yea Sprewell has no affiliation with Davin Wheels other than just being a retailer of their wheels, he never owned it nor did he design anything for them. I am from Rhode Island and visit Davin Wheels headquarters periodically and personally know the head salesman for their wheels very well

In October 1992, a United States wheel spinner patent was filed by American inventor James (J.D.) Gragg who conceived and invented the original free-spinning spinner in the late 1980s. The American Tru-Spinners Wheel Enhancer spinner patent (United States Patent #5,290,094) was issued on March 1, 1994, making it the first free-spinning wheel spinner patent of its kind.[1] James (J.D.) Gragg from Tulsa, OK has over 80 inventions and is the leader in the field of the "Spinning Wheel Technology" with documented spin tests that stayed in motion for over 18 minutes as recorded by ABC/ESPN cameramen. He also had versions with multiple-spinners that had 27 different spinning mode capabilities and a foreign patent for Tru-Spinners (#187,015) was later issued in October 1997. The Tru-Spinner was so popular worldwide that the illegal pirating was considered to be the largest cases of patent infringement in history. As of June 2007, American Tru-Spinners concluded their first series of litigation against 12 of several illegal spinner pirates within the U.S. Federal Courts where American Tru-Spinners prevailed all and won Federal Summary Judgments against the 12 defendants for Patent Infringement. Permanent Injunctions were also issued against the unprecedented 12 defendants. The awarded settlement amounts memorialized in suit are not to be disclosed and are to remain strictly confidential by Stipulation Order of the Court. In 2003 on April 29th Davin Wheels was issued a U.S. patent #6,554,370 for a non-adaptable spinning wheel only version called the continuous motion wheel

In October 1992, a United States wheel spinner patent was filed by American inventor James (J.D.) Gragg who conceived and invented the original free-spinning spinner in the late 1980s. The American Tru-Spinners Wheel Enhancer spinner patent (United States Patent #5,290,094) was issued on March 1, 1994, making it the first free-spinning wheel spinner patent of its kind.[1] James (J.D.) Gragg from Tulsa, OK has over 80 inventions and is the leader in the field of the "Spinning Wheel Technology" with documented spin tests that stayed in motion for over 18 minutes as recorded by ABC/ESPN cameramen. He also had versions with multiple-spinners that had 27 different spinning mode capabilities and a foreign patent for Tru-Spinners (#187,015) was later issued in October 1997. The Tru-Spinner was so popular worldwide that the illegal pirating was considered to be the largest cases of patent infringement in history. As of June 2007, American Tru-Spinners concluded their first series of litigation against 12 of several illegal spinner pirates within the U.S. Federal Courts where American Tru-Spinners prevailed all and won Federal Summary Judgments against the 12 defendants for Patent Infringement. Permanent Injunctions were also issued against the unprecedented 12 defendants. The awarded settlement amounts memorialized in suit are not to be disclosed and are to remain strictly confidential by Stipulation Order of the Court. In 2003 on April 29th Davin Wheels was issued a U.S. patent #6,554,370 for a non-adaptable spinning wheel only version called the continuous motion wheel