Basketball Article

New Basketball Diaries

Following the announcement in late June by the National Basketball Association that a new basketball made out of synthetic material would be used, a number of prominent players such as Shaquille O’Neal and Lebron James came out against the new version of the ball.

Though official NBA basketballs were traditionally made of leather, new style basketballs have foregone leather for a synthetic material manufactured by Spalding under the claim that the new basketballs provide a better grip, handle and feel than traditional leather basketballs.

The move to a new basketball comes as the latest of what has seemingly been an annual measure by David Stern to in some way alter the game and provide early season headlines about the NBA to publicize the league, possibly to steal at least a little focus away from the National Football League season and college football. The league’s dress code for players on the bench and prohibition of hand guns also served the same purpose, leading many to question the motives behind Stern’s various moves.

Regardless, the National Basketball Association put the ball through its paces before releasing it to the league, giving NBA legends Reggie Miller, Steve Kerr and Mark Jackson a chance to try out the ball. All three approved of the new ball, but did so in a lazy shoot around rather than a game-style situation.

That has proved to a basis for difference in opinion surrounding the ball, as many players have charged that with the addition of sweat to the ball, it becomes difficult to handle and becomes almost slippery in its grip. The ball does however have the tendency to not bounce as well as the previous leather ball, leading some to speculate that because the ball dies upon hitting the backboard, it goes into the hoop more readily and will have the overall effect of increasing scoring.

While that charge may have merit, it remains a difficult claim to substantiate and Stern has said numerous times that the new basketball is around to stay and the only review of the ball will come at the end of the season, giving the league a full year of source material to draw from when determining just how founded the objections players have made are.

No matter what the ultimate effect of introducing the new version of the official NBA basketball has been, it has resulted in two things: a cheaper official basketball to produce that can be utilized both for cheaper operations in the NBA and cheaper sales in retail outlets as well as a great amount of controversy to stir up some interest in the National Basketball Association season.

Only time will tell what the in-game effect of the ball will be and whether the claims that sweat greatly reduces the viability of the ball are indeed true. In the mean time, it has certainly given basketball fans and columnists something new to talk about in the face of a new NBA season.