Players want new ball bounced

Thursday, Oct. 12, 2006 | 7:25 a.m.

What: Los Angeles Lakers vs. Phoenix Suns

Where: Thomas & Mack Center, UNLV

When: 6:30 p.m. Sunday

Tickets: $11-$92; www.unlvtickets.com

Also: Lakers vs. Sacramento Kings, 7 p.m. Tuesday

When the basketball writers in Miami asked one of the game's biggest stars about the difference between the NBA's old basketball and its new one - the one that will be flying out of bounds and clanking off the rim when the Phoenix Suns meet the Los Angeles Lakers in a preseason game Sunday at the Thomas & Mack Center - this is what Shaquille O'Neal said:

"It's like touching an exotic dancer, then touching a blow-up doll. It feels kind of different."

Shaq would know, I guess.

Actually, that was about the nicest thing he said of the slick, new ball, with an emphasis on slick. Made of composite material that is supposed to be easier to grip than leather, the ball also features a new design and more surface area. So now there's room for David Stern's signature in two places instead of just one.

Shaq said unlike the commissioner's autograph and his rule about not wearing hip-hop clothing on the team bus, he doesn't expect the new ball to stick.

He compared it to a cheap indoor-outdoor ball you find at toy stores, adding that the new ball is "terrible" and that whoever designed it should be fired and forfeit his college degree, or at least be sent to his room without an inflation needle.

Shaq apparently was hoping that the NBA was going to introduce its new free-throw ball, the one with the magnet inside. But whereas he thinks the new ball is too slick, NBA most valuable player Steve Nash finds it too grippy when it's dry. "The ball sticks to your hand," Nash said.

He also said it sticks to the floor and sticks to the backboard which, if true, is going to revolutionize rebounding in a way that even Bill Russell never could have imagined.

WHAT THEY'RE SAYING

"Right now our plans are to stay the course, but we will monitor it and if we find there is something to it and it is a serious issue, we will take the appropriate steps because the most important thing to us is the game. We have gone out and done tests. We have wet both balls. When the (old) leather ball is wet at the end of the game, it is very slippery."

- David Stern, NBA commissioner

"Everyone that handles the ball loves the grip and the feel of the ball."

- Stu Jackson, NBA executive vice president of basketball operations

"I think it's horrible. It really does feel like an indoor-outdoor ball."

- Pat Riley, Miami Heat coach

"Growing up, I played with all kinds of balls. I rolled up tape and used tape as a basketball. I played with a sock. I think I can play with this one. We'll be fine. I don't even think it's that big of a deal."

- Kobe Bryant, Los Angeles Lakers

"Now I've got to make another adjustment with a ball that I haven't shot with at all and it's going to be a challenge. I think there's going to be a lot of bricks thrown up there early on."

- Dwyane Wade, Miami Heat

"I don't like it because it is different. But in three years, we'll probably all look back and not be able to imagine playing with anything else."

- Micheal Doleac, Miami Heat