Former NBA commissioner David Stern had an idea of switching the official game ball for the first time in over 35 years. His experiment lasted only two months after the NBA Players Association filed two unfair labor practice charges against the league.
On June 28, 2006, the league made a sudden announcement at the NBA Store in New York City that the traditional leather balls would be a thing of the past. In exchange, Spalding introduced a basketball made of a synthetic micro-fiber composite material that Stern claims was “the best in the world” as per Vice.
“Advancements that Spalding has made to the new game ball ensure that the best basketball players in the world will be playing with the best basketball in the world,” said Stern.
The main reason manufacturers pushed for synthetic balls was because they were cheaper to produce. Spalding's synthetic basketball was first tested by high school and college teams, with the idea that it'll eventually catch on in the NBA. It did not.
Why everybody hated Spalding's new synthetic ball.
The league did everything they could to make the balls work. They gave each player one of the composite basketballs during the offseason to practice. Another report said each team was given 72 pieces of the new ball, and that it was each bounced 50 times on a bounce machine to make sure they'd be game-ready for training camp.
However, the reviews from the players were appalling.
In an article by Complex, Stephen Jackson said the ball felt like plastic and that he saw many of his NBA colleagues with band-aids on their fingers.
“Right off the rim when I first started gripping it, it felt like plastic,” said Jackson.
“It feels like one of those cheap balls you buy at the toy store,” said Shaquille O'Neal. “When the ball gets wet you can't control it. Whoever made that decision needs to be fired.”
For shooters like Ray Allen, Steve Nash, and Dirk Nowitzki, their biggest complaint about the ball was it gave them cuts on their fingers.
“I have to constantly put lotion all over my hands because my fingers are cracking and it's causing splits on my fingertips,” said Ray Allen.
Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban even conducted a case study on the ball. In the same article by Complex, the study found the new ball bounced 5 to 8 percent lower when dropped from 4 feet and that it bounced 30 percent more erratically than its leather counterpart.
How bad did players perform with the new ball?
Despite the uproar from players, The Washington Post reported that the players actually performed better with the new ball. The league's scoring averages went up by 2.5 points. Meanwhile, the field goal and free throw percentages also increased.
On December 1, the Players Union filed a protest stating that the commissioner (Stern) never consulted the players about changing the ball. 10 days later, the leather balls were back, and Stern admitted his mistake.
“Our players' response to this particular composite ball has been consistently negative and we are acting accordingly,” Stern said in a statement. “Statistically, there has been an improvement in shooting, scoring, and ball-related turnovers, however, the most important statistic is the view of our players.”
The Basketball Every NBA Player HATED 🏀 I Clutch #Shorts – YouTube
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