December 6, 2006
N.B.A. to Take Up Complaints With Ball Manufacturer
By MICHAEL S. SCHMIDT
Four days after the National Basketball Players Association filed unfair labor practice charges with the National Labor Relations Board partly over the N.B.A.’s use of a new synthetic basketball, Commissioner David Stern said that the league made a mistake by not closely consulting with the players and that the league would address complaints about the ball with its manufacturer.
On Friday, the player’s association filed grievances with the N.L.R.B. and asked the organization to investigate what it said were the N.B.A.’s unilateral actions. The new synthetic ball and new rules cracking down on in-game conduct have prompted complaints from players since the season began. The players association was upset that its membership was not informed of the changes beforehand.
“I won’t make a spirited defense with respect to the ball,” Stern said today. “In hindsight, we could have done a better job.
“With respect to the ball, I take responsibility for that.”
Players say the new ball, manufactured by Spalding with a synthetic plastic instead of leather, absorbs sweat and sticks to their hands, causing it to not roll off their fingers in a consistent fashion. Some players have also complained that the ball does not bounce off the floor and the rim like the old ball.
“On every test, historically that has been done, this ball tests out much more consistent,” Stern said. “But if our players are unhappy, then we’re unhappy. We get every ball from every team. We go back. We have it taken apart. We do all kinds of tests. And that’s a continuing process.”
Stern added that the league should have listened to the players sooner and would be investigating each player’s complaint.
“Whether or not we did enough prior to it, we’re actually, well, we think this ball has many of the attributes that Spalding says it has,” he said. “It’s an improvement in many ways. But if our players are unhappy with it, we have to analyze to the nth degree the cause of their unhappiness. Everything is on the table. I’m not pleased, but I’m realistic. We’ve got to do the right thing here. And, of course, the right thing is to listen to our players. Whether it’s a day late or not, we’re dealing with this.”
The N.B.A. said it changed the ball to meet the standard of the rest of the world’s basketball leagues.
The players association has been especially upset that ball was introduced without consultation with the union or any active players. Three retired players-turned-broadcast-analysts — Mark Jackson, Reggie Miller and Steve Kerr — were the primary testers. The only N.B.A. players who tested the ball in compe ion were the members of the 2006 All-Star teams, who used one during last season’s game in Houston.
“We’re talking to every player,” Stern said. “We’re continuing to evaluate it. Every time someone says something about the ball, we get the ball and we send it back to Spalding.”
They should have created a panel of current and ex-players and developed a synthetic ball for next year. It wouldn't have hurt them to keep the leather ball another year while the new one, which would be approved by the players association, is getting tested.
Hopefully they'll just switch back. Why fix whats not broken? This is what happens.
Apparently cows are now endangered. I forget the reason behind Spalding not making leather balls anymore.
theres plenty of cows...its probably some animal rights bs
There is no bull shortage of in cows. As long as fast food is still in biz, the NBA should be able to have leather balls like the last 20 years.
The NBA is ing stupid for making this change. They ed up and it looks like Stern is now admitting it.
I'm actually stunned that Stern was able to admit he was wrong about something to begin with!
That right there is noteworthy!
at least sterns owning up for his mistake. even for a little bit.
It seems that a lot of balls are falling short and hitting the front of the rim. I wonder if the weight is exactly the same as the old balls. For some pure shooters, a change in weight by even a fraction might change their stroke that was finely honed over many years.
The weight is easy to check.
It's the dynamics of the ball, its liveliness when hitting the rim, backboard, and the angle between the rim and backboard that is clearly lower than the leather ball. There are still long rebounds, but also plenty of rim bounces that are just not right.
I think the feel of the ball is far more important than the weight.
this ball has taken some of the weirdest bounces i have ever seen. did anyone see finley's brick that somehow managed to fall through against GS. that thing hit the back of the rim HARD bounced in the air and fell through. truly bizarre.
i hope they return to the old b-ball. i know i can't stand playing with any b-ball that isn't leather, so i can imagine their pain. anytime ray allen is having trouble putting this ball in the hole, it's the ball. he is one of the purest shooters i have ever seen on the court and in his backyard...LOL.
Miachel Redd = 29.6 ppg
Ray Allen = 25.3 ppg
It hasn't really affected these pure shooters. People are just looking for something new to complain about.
Like everything else, this was probably a business scheme to re-stock the shelves of K-Marts and Targets across the country with a new, 80 dollar, must-have ball. Marketing genious, not really.
I'm quite sure eventually there will be a PETA uproar. Synthetic cows have rights too.
Ray Allen is shooting 31% from 3. Ten percentage points less than last year and by far his worst shooting season from 3 in his career.
31%!! that's even worse than the career 3G% of ..... SJax (33%).
Well, we're hitting our free throws lately, so I'm torn.
I'll wait for the report from the New Ball Study Group.
I think there is a huge range between the old leather ball and the new $25 piece of plastic ball everyone is complaining about. What I mean is, I think you could make a synthetic ball that is well made and even resembles leather. There are shoes of synthetic leather and all sorts of other things. I don't see why Spalding couldn't do a better job to resemble the old ball, instead of using the crappy outdoor ball.
Why have synthetic at all.
Nothing wrong with a nice, well made leather basketball.
Well, if you can make one that feels just like the other but is significantly cheaper than I expect that's what will eventually happen. Of course the NBA can afford to pay for whatever it wants. Stern claims there were complaints that the leather balls were not consistent and that synthetic would make all the balls closer to the same. Unfortunately now the balls are more uniform, but uniformly bad.
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