The theory of spherical harmonics shows that $L^2(B)$ is an $SO(3)$ Hilbert sum of the form $$L^2(B)= \bigoplus_{n=1}^\infty H_n, $$ where $H_n\subset L^2(B)$ are finite dimensional $SO(3)$-invariant irreducible subspaces. In fact $H_n$ are all the irreducible representations of $SO(3)$ and $H_n\cong H_m$ as $SO(3)$-representations iff $n=m$. If $K:L^2(B)\to L^2(B) $ is $SO(3)$-equivariant, then it indices $SO(3)$-equivariant maps $$K_{mn} H_m\to H_n,\;\; H_m\ni h\mapsto P_{H_n}Kh\in H_n, $$ where $P_{H_n}$ is the orthogonal projection onto $H_n$. Since $H_n,H_m$ are irreducible representations we deduce from Schur's Lemma that if $m=n$ then $K_{mn}$ is a multiple of the identity and $K_{nm}=0$ if $m=n$. This proves that $H_n$ is an invariant subspace of $K$ and the restriction of $K$ to $H_n$ is a multiple of the identity. In other words, the functions in $H_n$ are eigenfunctions of $K$.