arthurracoon
The Cardinal Smiles
http://www.azcentral.com/sports/columns/articles/1205bickley1206.html
Dan Bickley
The Arizona Republic
Dec. 6, 2006 12:27 AM
The NBA is becoming the new No Fun League. There are dress codes, technical fouls for whining, expensive reprimands for renegade owners.
It is all part of a master plan to take the playground out of the game, softening up the gritty urban feel of professional basketball. Street cred and bling, you're no longer welcome here.
It is a highly ambitious plan, and quite courageous, really. Until you consider David Stern's new balls.
"The only problem I have with it is that it tears my fingers apart," said the Suns' Steve Nash, reigning two-time MVP.
Astonishing, isn't it? If the new behavior and dress codes weren't enough, the NBA has blindsided its players with a new basketball that looks like a Nerf pumpkin. The balls are soft and orange and strangely cushy. They are also part of a new grievance filed by union leader Billy Hunter.
Hunter claims that his players hate the new balls, even though early results show little statistical change from last season. Dallas owner Mark Cuban funded independent studies and discovered that the soft bounces help shooters while the stickiness hinders creative playmakers.
"I think our team is split," said the Suns' Eric Piatkowski, the team's union representative. "Sixty percent don't like it, 40 percent do."
But new revelations have changed the argument considerably. Nets point guard Jason Kidd said the new ball gives him the feeling of multiple paper cuts in his hands. That sounds extreme, but Nash understood completely, saying he suffers from the same problem.
Of course, these are merely two of the best passers in NBA history. They both work the ball furiously while dribbling, whether it's applying heavy spin or delivering creative touch passes. And just like that, the commissioner has gone and handicapped two of the most artful, unselfish players he has in the sport.
"It's awful," Nash said, showing off what appeared to be array of friction burns on his fingers. "It's like an irritant, and you get them right on the part of your hands that you're using the most. And every time you go to shoot it you don't want to use those parts. Sometimes, I even have to tape my fingers in practice."
In the wide view, it is easy to see the reason for great Stern mandate, even with the considerable risks. While benefiting from a wonderful new crop of stars, the game is still dealing with a lingering perception problem - the one that always goes back to the guns and headbands and cornrows. Hunter recently said as much to the New York Daily News:
"The image problem is a subtle way of talking about Black ballplayers and how they appear to the populace," Hunter said. "When we had our last round of negotiations, David told me that he was consulting with one of President Bush's political consultants. The issue was: What they can do to make the game and players more appealing to the red states?"
While Stern's heavy-handed reform is beginning to anger many influential players, it's the same deal with this new basketball. In any other sport, the ball is an object to be thrown, caught, kicked or hit. But a basketball is much different and much more personal. It is more like a brush for the artist - and if you don't believe me, please pop in a tape of Magic Johnson. Or Pistol Pete.
To mess with that relationship is insane.
Officially, the new basketball was developed to correct inconsistencies in the old model. But there are new rumors this new basketball actually came about because the wife of the Rockets' owner is a huge ally for PETA. Seems she's also a friend of Stern's wife. And when the two gals got to talking, well, that rich, leathery old basketball that came from the back of some poor cow was a thing of the past.
"That'd be great," Nash said. "I'd agree with that. But can't they make a better synthetic basketball? One that doesn't cut my fingers? The colleges use a synthetic. It's a good basketball; they could use that. Oh, but then they wouldn't have a new one to sell."
Ah, yes. Capitalism. The brand new Spalding NBA Official Game Basketball retails for just about $100 and is sitting on the shelves for your holiday shopping pleasure. Unlike the old leather ball that served the NBA, you can actually play with this one in your driveway and not worry about the ball enduring a lifetime of premature baldness.
In the end, that is surely why this ridiculous change was made.
"It's selling pretty good, actually," said Jason Stroud, store manager for the Sports Authority sporting goods chain. "I just got another shipment in today. And I haven't had any returns yet."
Cha-ching, and this is where the commissioner and his combative New Deal have dropped the ball.
After all, when you try to take the playground out of the game and then introduce a new basketball just because it'll sell better on the playground, well, there's a word for that on the street, yo: hypocrite.
Dan Bickley
The Arizona Republic
Dec. 6, 2006 12:27 AM
The NBA is becoming the new No Fun League. There are dress codes, technical fouls for whining, expensive reprimands for renegade owners.
It is all part of a master plan to take the playground out of the game, softening up the gritty urban feel of professional basketball. Street cred and bling, you're no longer welcome here.
It is a highly ambitious plan, and quite courageous, really. Until you consider David Stern's new balls.
"The only problem I have with it is that it tears my fingers apart," said the Suns' Steve Nash, reigning two-time MVP.
Astonishing, isn't it? If the new behavior and dress codes weren't enough, the NBA has blindsided its players with a new basketball that looks like a Nerf pumpkin. The balls are soft and orange and strangely cushy. They are also part of a new grievance filed by union leader Billy Hunter.
Hunter claims that his players hate the new balls, even though early results show little statistical change from last season. Dallas owner Mark Cuban funded independent studies and discovered that the soft bounces help shooters while the stickiness hinders creative playmakers.
"I think our team is split," said the Suns' Eric Piatkowski, the team's union representative. "Sixty percent don't like it, 40 percent do."
But new revelations have changed the argument considerably. Nets point guard Jason Kidd said the new ball gives him the feeling of multiple paper cuts in his hands. That sounds extreme, but Nash understood completely, saying he suffers from the same problem.
Of course, these are merely two of the best passers in NBA history. They both work the ball furiously while dribbling, whether it's applying heavy spin or delivering creative touch passes. And just like that, the commissioner has gone and handicapped two of the most artful, unselfish players he has in the sport.
"It's awful," Nash said, showing off what appeared to be array of friction burns on his fingers. "It's like an irritant, and you get them right on the part of your hands that you're using the most. And every time you go to shoot it you don't want to use those parts. Sometimes, I even have to tape my fingers in practice."
In the wide view, it is easy to see the reason for great Stern mandate, even with the considerable risks. While benefiting from a wonderful new crop of stars, the game is still dealing with a lingering perception problem - the one that always goes back to the guns and headbands and cornrows. Hunter recently said as much to the New York Daily News:
"The image problem is a subtle way of talking about Black ballplayers and how they appear to the populace," Hunter said. "When we had our last round of negotiations, David told me that he was consulting with one of President Bush's political consultants. The issue was: What they can do to make the game and players more appealing to the red states?"
While Stern's heavy-handed reform is beginning to anger many influential players, it's the same deal with this new basketball. In any other sport, the ball is an object to be thrown, caught, kicked or hit. But a basketball is much different and much more personal. It is more like a brush for the artist - and if you don't believe me, please pop in a tape of Magic Johnson. Or Pistol Pete.
To mess with that relationship is insane.
Officially, the new basketball was developed to correct inconsistencies in the old model. But there are new rumors this new basketball actually came about because the wife of the Rockets' owner is a huge ally for PETA. Seems she's also a friend of Stern's wife. And when the two gals got to talking, well, that rich, leathery old basketball that came from the back of some poor cow was a thing of the past.
"That'd be great," Nash said. "I'd agree with that. But can't they make a better synthetic basketball? One that doesn't cut my fingers? The colleges use a synthetic. It's a good basketball; they could use that. Oh, but then they wouldn't have a new one to sell."
Ah, yes. Capitalism. The brand new Spalding NBA Official Game Basketball retails for just about $100 and is sitting on the shelves for your holiday shopping pleasure. Unlike the old leather ball that served the NBA, you can actually play with this one in your driveway and not worry about the ball enduring a lifetime of premature baldness.
In the end, that is surely why this ridiculous change was made.
"It's selling pretty good, actually," said Jason Stroud, store manager for the Sports Authority sporting goods chain. "I just got another shipment in today. And I haven't had any returns yet."
Cha-ching, and this is where the commissioner and his combative New Deal have dropped the ball.
After all, when you try to take the playground out of the game and then introduce a new basketball just because it'll sell better on the playground, well, there's a word for that on the street, yo: hypocrite.
