The NBA announced on Monday that on January 1, 2007, it will return to the leather game ball made by Spalding, for the remainder of the 2006-07 season.
?Our players' response to this particular composite ball has been consistently negative and we are acting accordingly," said NBA Commissioner David Stern. ?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.?
"In the meantime, we will work with our players and our partners at Spalding to determine the best possible ball for the NBA."
The NBA Development League will continue using the new composite ball to evaluate its performance over a longer period of time. The WNBA will continue to use a different composite ball that it has used since 1998.
Spalding has been the Official Game Ball Supplier of the NBA since 1983.