New year brings return of old ball for NBA

New Year’s celebrations might be louder than usual in NBA locker rooms Sunday.

When the curtain closes on 2006, so does the brief run of the league’s new basketball. The new year brings the return of the old ball, the leather one players said never should have been replaced.

“Hallelujah,” Minnesota’s Kevin Garnett said.

Players criticized the new microfiber composite ball from the instant training camps opened. The NBA stood by the product, but players’ complaints that it cut their skin followed by an unfair labor practice charge forced commissioner David Stern to put the new balls back on the rack.

“It worked. I didn’t think it would,” Cleveland’s LeBron James said. “I can’t wait!”

But before James and his pals pat themselves on the back too much, here’s something they should keep in mind: There’s no guarantee their beloved leather ball is the one that will be tossed up to open the 2007-08 season.

“Not necessarily. It really depends on what the best product is for the game,” said Dan Touhey, vice president of marketing for Spalding. “We certainly feel based upon what every other league in the country is using and every other high school and college that the composite balls are here to stay, and they have reached pretty close to the highest level of competition.”

The stats show the ball had no real negative effect in the NBA. Scoring is up about 2 1/2 points per game from a similar point last season, and field-goal and free-throw percentages also have risen.

Although Stern said that things are now “open to what we start the season with,” he also said he wouldn’t set any “artificial deadlines.”

As much as players welcome the current change, the transition might not be as smooth as they expect. Besides the difference in the grip, leather takes time to break in, so the balls they handle next week might feel a bit different from what they remember.