NEW YORK - David Stern expected complaints, and he got plenty of them. His
response: The new ball is staying.
 Denver Nuggets' Carmelo Anthony (15)
dribbles around Detroit Pistons' Tayshaun Prince during the first half of
their preseason NBA basketball game on Sunday, Oct. 22, 2006 in Auburn
Hills, Mich. [AP] |
The NBA commissioner said Monday the league is sticking with its new ball and
is convinced it's a better product despite concerns from a number of players.
That was a much stronger answer than he gave recently when he was in Europe
for a series of exhibition games between NBA and international teams. Stern said
then he would continue to monitor the situation and test the ball some more.
That seemed to leave open the possibility the new ball would be bounced.
"We've been testing it and retesting it," Stern said. "And I think that some
of the dramatics around it were a little overstated in terms of the downside and
not enough recognition of the upside."
The upside to Stern is that all the new balls, made of a microfiber
composite, feel exactly alike. No two leather balls were the same. Stern said it
was customary for referees to go through a rack of balls to select the best one
before each game.
Still, some players preferred it that way. Some have said the new ball is too
sticky when it's dry; others claim it's too slippery when wet.
Shaquille O'Neal and Steve Nash are among those wary. O'Neal has said the new
ball "feels like one of those cheap balls that you buy at the toy store ¡ª
indoor-outdoor balls."
"Within certain parameters of the way you want a ball to perform again and
again and again, it is performing extraordinarily well," Stern said. "It doesn't
mean it feels the same; it may not even bounce exactly the same. It may do all
the things that everyone says it may or may not do, but it's a very good ball
and the tests continue to demonstrate that it's an improvement."
Stern was speaking at the NBA Store, where the league announced a partnership
with the personal computer company Lenovo. But once that was done, it was back
to what has been perhaps the biggest headache the commissioner has faced this
preseason.
NBA officials have stressed that most players grew up playing with the
microfiber composite, but they may have underestimated the preference players
have for leather. That's even after Stern said Spalding wanted to make the
change more than a year ago.
"We said no," Stern said. "We want to go back and do more tests and confirm
to us that this move will be pain free ¡ª which, of course, it hasn't been."
Stern said he has handled the new ball and doesn't agree with the complaints
that it bounces differently from the old one.
"It may behave somewhat differently in some circumstance or another ... but I
will say that whichever ball you take out of the box, it's going to behave in
that way consistently," he said. "Every leather ball behaves differently."
"That's the trade-off we're making," he added. "And we think it's going to
make a great improvement."