http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/06/sports/basketball/06ball.html Just when McGrady finally got used to the damned thing ...
I would actually rather the league did NOT cave in on this one. Sure there will be an adjustment, but they've mostly gotten over it anyway.
The NBA should definitely cave on this one. King Stern made a royally huge mistake and needs to correct it. Stern's public statement of "sending the balls back" to Spalding is a wet finger in the wind. IMO, the "ball is rolling" and they will go back to leather sometime this season or definitely next season.
Thank you... I thought stern was crazy. Its okay, the players have used this ball for a long time, so it won't take them that long to transfer again if they switch.
I wonder who the anonymous NBA player that tore a ligament when the ball stuck to his hand. My guess would be Bibby, since he was out at the beginning of the season.
The new ball is horrible if you're a guy who handles the ball a lot or likes to take it inside. It's terrific if all you do is catch and shoot. Having said that, I think there is little reason to believe that the league will continue with this experiment; I think the old, authentic NBA leather ball will make a comeback next season.
One N.B.A. assistant coach, who did not want to be identified because he was not authorized to comment, tore a ligament in a finger when, in retrieving a ball that had bounced onto the sideline, his finger stuck at an odd angle on the surface of the ball.
Why should the players have to put up with an inferior ball that cuts up their hands? Obviously money was the only reason this change happened. Spalding talked David Stern into it and he jumped in without consulting anybody. The NBA players shouldn't have to adjust to anything, this is the biggest basketball league in the world and they should have the best basketballs available.
It's a little simplistic to say he tore a ligament because the ball was synthetic. He may have torn it with a leather ball too, if that ball happened to be leather.
That's what Stern thought going into this summer. He knew it was a bad ball but figured the players would get over it like all the other unpopular (among the players: dress code, technicals) moves he's forced on them. Wrong. This was about Spalding's cash from start to finish and trying to fix something that wasn't broken. Bad idea all the way. Evan
Stern is a nut. A month ago he put his foot down and said the ball is good and it is here to stay. Now he's saying he shouldve gotten more input from the players What a clown
