Before the season even began, there were grumblings of discontent from players about the new game ball introduced by Spalding and the NBA. The new composite microfiber ball replaced the traditional leather ball after testing it during summer league play. It was also apparently used during last seasons NBA All Star Game.
But Shaq has held a press conference complaining about the ball and players wore Band-Aids to cover cuts on their fingers Last week, the NBA Players Association took the grumblings to the next level, filing a grievance with the National Labor Relations Board. They also filed a complaint about the stricter play-calling of referees in the league.
This action on the part of the NBPA brought about a change in tact from Commissioner David Stern, quoted in the New York Times as saying, “I wont make a spirited defense with respect to the ball.” “In hindsight, we could have done a better job. I take responsibility for that.” Stern said the balls were being sent back to Spalding for more testing, but curiously, would not say whether a change would be made before season-end or not, leading to speculation that his moves have been mostly of the buying time vein, without an actual plan to end the balls use in play.
Spaldings Group VP Dan Touhey said, “we are in constant communication with the NBA we continue to do multiple tests on the team used game balls, and our only objective is to uphold the integrity of the game by putting the best possible product on the floor.”
Based on retail point-of-sale data compiled by SportScanINFO, the new ball was the number three basketball sold at retail last week, thanks in large part to its higher price-point. It was far lower on the list when measured in unit sales. Spaldings Never-Flat ball remains the top seller in the market when measured in dollars.
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