{"id":1194253,"date":"2020-07-05T21:52:00","date_gmt":"2020-07-06T01:52:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/?p=1194253"},"modified":"2020-07-05T21:52:01","modified_gmt":"2020-07-06T01:52:01","slug":"david-stern-made-a-huge-mistake-when-he-tried-to-change-the-nbas-balls","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/news\/david-stern-made-a-huge-mistake-when-he-tried-to-change-the-nbas-balls\/","title":{"rendered":"David Stern Made a Huge Mistake When He Tried to Change the NBA's Balls"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Basketballs seems like the one thing that would never change when it <a href=\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/the-2020-nba-hall-of-fame-enshrinement-ceremony-is-set-to-be-the-most-star-studded-in-basketball-history\/\">comes to the\u00a0NBA<\/a>. Rules change, the game evolves, and the strategies evolve with every new era. The basketball always remained the same throughout <a href=\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/tag\/nba-players\/\">the modern era<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, in 2006 David Stern decided to try something different. With a new pleather ball, the league hoped to appease those who did not like the\u00a0original ball. The results, however, were disastrous.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">A brief history of the basketball<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-youtube wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"James Naismith &amp; the Invention of Basketball\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/AdGeedbI1fg?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>RELATED: <a href=\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/wayman-tisdales-smile-shined-through-basketball-music-and-even-the-cancer-that-took-him-at-age-44\/\">Wayman Tisdale's Smile Shined Through Basketball, Music, and Even the Cancer That Took Him at Age 44<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When Dr. James Naismith invented the game of\u00a0basketball, he did not\u00a0have the orange ball\u00a0that we know today, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportsrec.com\/6592545\/the-history-of-basketball-balls\">SportsRec<\/a>. Still unsure of the game that would eventually become his magnum opus, Naismith opted for a soccer ball. That ball evolved into several different forms before settling on the one we know today.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The first basketball was designed in 1894 by A.G. Spalding, who was summoned by his friend, Dr. Naismith, to create a ball that was ideal for his new game. It was four inches bigger than a soccer ball and held together by laces. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For over 50 years, these laces were a staple on the basketball. Then, in 1949, the authorities decided that change was needed with the newly christened NBA heating up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The four panels on the original basketball became eight, and the laces were done away with. This version became the official basketball of the NBA in 1970. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>13 years later, the NBA adopted the leather ball that is used today. While the ball has been given several minor changes in the nearly-40 years since the integrity of the ball has mostly remained the same.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The 2006 ball, however, was a significant change from the standard basketball. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">A new era for the NBA ball?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-youtube wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"WHY CAN&#039;T YOU KEEP AN NBA BASKETBALL THAT GOES INTO THE STANDS?\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/xiSr_It0x4Q?start=2&#038;feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The NBA sanctioned the pleather ball with microfiber material and alternative panel design. This ball, the Cross Traxxion came into the NBA. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The NBA and Spalding insisted that the new ball was scientifically designed to be <a href=\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/kevin-durant-hasnt-played-basketball-in-almost-a-year-but-is-still-the-worlds-seventh-highest-paid-athlete\/\">the best\u00a0basketball<\/a>\u00a0in the world. They boasted of its aerodynamic design and &#8220;bloodless&#8221; faux leather, but the results did not sit well with players.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p> Shaquille O'Neal was one of its loudest critics from the get-go. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;Terrible,&#8221; O'Neal said at a Miami presser (per <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.vice.com\/en_us\/article\/wnmz79\/the-nba-ball-that-everyone-hated-throwback-thursday\" target=\"_blank\">Vice<\/a>). <\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>&#8220;It feels like one of those cheap balls you buy at the toy store... I look for shooting percentages to be way down and turnovers to be way up because when the ball gets wet, you can't really control it. Whoever did that needs to be fired. It was terrible, a terrible decision. Awful.&#8221;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>While it had some supporters, like retired sharpshooter Steve Novak, several players from Steve Nash to Caron Butler complained about the new material's tendency to slip ever-so-slightly to its knack for being tough on the fingers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To add insult to injury, the league worked with retired NBA players while testing out the ball, not current ones. Eventually, the NBA Players' Association filed a complaint based on the lack of input. The league agreed to bring back the classic basketball.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Some things never need to change<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-youtube wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"The Jump reacts to Jamal Murray declaring the Nuggets NBA title contenders\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/gUhy5iirMiE?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>RELATED: <a href=\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/william-bedford-the-no-6-pick-in-the-1986-nba-draft-i-hated-basketball\/\">William Bedford, the No. 6 Pick in the 1986 NBA Draft: &#8216;I Hated Basketball'<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The\u00a0ball\u00a0didn't significantly affect stats or outcomes, but players did not like the little ways it changed the way they felt the ball. Athletes are creatures of habit. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Every slip and slide with a basketball meant another adjustment in a game filled with minutia. According to the <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2006\/12\/06\/sports\/basketball\/06ball.html\">New York Time<\/a><\/em>s, the ball changed back\u00a0in 2007, and the league has kept the general idea of a standard basketball since.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The NBA <a href=\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/jimmy-butler-hates-dwelling-about-his-past-and-people-feeling-sorry-for-him\/\">learned a valuable lesson<\/a> about change. While the change in the game is good, it's best to consult with those that the change affects. The league learned its lesson, and they haven't tried a new ball since.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>David Stern the respected commissioner of the NBA for many years. One of his worst decisions came when he tried to change the NBA ball.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":231,"featured_media":1194181,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[86460],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v22.3 (Yoast SEO v22.9) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>David Stern Made a Huge Mistake When He Tried to Change the NBA&#039;s Balls - Sports7<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"David Stern the respected commissioner of the NBA for many years. 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