As i'm sure some of you know (or don't, as i'm pretty new to this board and have no idea what you guys are into), the NBA recently overturned its decision (mid-season, mind you) to replace the traditional leather ball with a new microfiber composite ball (read: leather free!). The reason for the reversal was the overwhelmingly vocal resistance from the NBA's players, which included an unfair labor practice charge against the NBA filed by the player's union (the ultimate catalyst in getting the leather ball back).
The strangest thing about the entire scenerio? Dispite player claims that the ball had an uncomfortable grip when dry, became too slippery when wet, and had an unnatural bounce, shooting percentages have actually increased since the microfiber ball came into play compared to previous seasons!
According to some articles, however, NBA commish David Stern is looking to work with Spalding to create a synthetic ball the players can agree on for use in the near future.
I've gotta say, as welcome as the idea is, why is he making such an agressive push towards a leather free basketball?
Could we have a closet vegan in our midst? I couldn't find any online references towards his stance on animal product consumption, but i'd love to know...
This article addresses the topic a bit more if you're interested (though something tells me no one will be...)
Yeah, it was hillarious. The shots at LeBron and Shaq were priceless...
Though oddly enough, i haven't seen any mention of it on any of the Espn shows... i think i'm going to write a letter to Pardon the Interruption now that i think about it.
NBA Goes Leather Free!
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