After a win against the Oklahoma City Thunder Paul George made a seemingly innocuous statement about the state of the game.
“Not to make an excuse or anything, it’s just a different basketball,” Paul George said. “It doesn’t have the same touch or softness as the Spalding ball had. You’ll see this year, there’s going to be a lot of bad misses.”
While it is true that some players are struggling (see Damian Lillard) others are flourishing (see Carmelo Anthony). Yet, George inadvertently pushed the pebble down the snowy mountain and everyone is screaming “Avalanche” now. Our very own Rene Rocha broached the subject back on October 21, but it wasn’t until George mentioned it that the controversy grew legs. Here are just a few articles on the subject:
- Paul George Believes New NBA Wilson Basketball is why Players are Struggling Shooting – SI
- NBA Players Struggling To Adjust To New Wilson Basketball – RealGM
- Is the switch from Spalding to Wilson to blame for shooting slumps? – USA Today
- Is new NBA Wilson ball to blame for poor shooting? Paul George, CJ McCollum weigh-in on switch from Spalding – Sporting News
- NBPA President C.J. McCollum to Address Frustration With New NBA Gameball With Fellow Players – Sport Techie
It seems that every season there is a story that dominates the landscape for a time. Right now, that story is about the Wilson basketball. While the new basketball is no doubt different than the one it replaced, the NBA has been integrating the ball for a year. As Evan Moore, another of our great contributors, brings up – sometimes it’s a mental block. Players who aren’t doing well tend to blame whatever is different. Right now, the ball is different.
So…
It’s the Ball! More to Come
We are looking into this and will have more information as we discover it. Since I am calling out contributors I need to mention that Nathaniel Malone, who covers the Phoenix Suns with us, brought this to our attention. While we wait for more information, let’s come up with a cool nickname for this story. Ballgate makes sense, but seems kinda lazy. Ball-a-geddon? Ball-tastrophe? WonkyWilson? Spaulding-spiracy?
We await your thoughts on the matter!
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