NBA goes old school with ball

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NEW YORK -- Turnover, NBA.

The NBA will scrap its new microfiber composite ball and bring back the old leather one beginning Jan. 1.

The league sent a memo to its teams yesterday, telling them that the change would be made for the rest of the 2006-07 season. In the memo, NBA president Joel Litvin said Spalding had 450 new leather balls on hand for use.

"Our players' response to this particular composite ball has been overwhelmingly negative, and we are acting accordingly," NBA commissioner David Stern said. "Although testing performed by Spalding and the NBA demonstrated that the new composite basketball was more consistent than leather and statistically there has been an improvement in shooting, scoring, and ball-related turnovers, the most important statistic is the view of our players."

Players have complained about the new ball since training camp, saying it bounced differently than the old one -- both off the floor and the rim. They also said the synthetic material cut their hands.

"For the league to be successful, obviously the players have to be happy. The basketball is the most important thing to us," said a smiling LeBron James, one of several NBA All-Stars who criticized the new ball. "Like I said before, you can change the dress code, you can make our shorts shorter, but when you take our basketball away from us, that's not a transition we handle."

Stern told the New York Times last week the league should have sought more input from players before introducing the new ball. He also said he would address the players' criticisms with Spalding, the manufacturer.

Spalding president and CEO Scott Creelman said in a statement that his company "will work closely with the NBA to ensure a smooth transition and to determine the best product going forward."

The lack of player input about the new ball prompted one of the two unfair labor practice charges filed Dec. 1 by the union with the National Labor Relations Board.

Two-time league MVP Steve Nash has said the ball cut up his hands but wasn't looking for a return to the old ball.