- 882
- 32
- Joined
- Mar 31, 2002
so here are my 2 nba balls....
background:
the first ball i purchased was in 2006 when the nba decided to go to the composite ball and the "old" leather balls were going on closeout for $50 out here in so cal.... i picked one up. it was striaght up hard as a rock, it had zero grip, i wouldn't call it a rubber ball feel but it felt very plastic. so i played with this ball and shot a ton with it for about 3 years, took 2 years off and just started playing again with the jr high school i teach at and started shooting around with it. it broke in and you can definitely notice a better grip when you get sweaty. and the ball sounds CLEAN when you swish. it's like the ball doesn't stick when it goes through the net. also, the ball definitely banks off the backboard differently from composite balls. as you can still see, it has the old nba design and is still a bit shiny.
the new ball, i purchased 2 weeks ago. same sporting goods store i bought the original ball from. this one definitely has a different feel. first, it has a small bit of cushion. this can definitely be seen in the channel pics (see below). it also is a lot more grippy than the old ball when they were both new. i've only shot around with the new ball today for the first time for about 2 hours. i noticed that this ball's stickiness is more consistent. if your hands are dry, there's still some grip (i think it's largely due to the stamping of the ball and the channels), but if your hands get sweaty, it improves the grip but not nearly as much as the old ball.
diference 1: stampings
if you look at the picture enclosed here, the spalding logo is actually stamped onto the ball. if you look at any composite ball, this is very noticeable. on the nba leather ball, it's noticeable but not as bad as a composite ball.
this is the 2006 ball. as you can see, the spalding logo wasn't even stamped but rather the letters were just painted on. this definitely allowed for a more "consistent" feeling of the ball. with the new ball, you could kind of tell which panel your hands were on, the old one, the panels felt all the same.
again, you can see the stamping here on the new ball.
similar area on the 2006 ball. this is really the only noticeable stamping area of the 06 ball and it is much less faint in feeling than the oversized nba logo.
last but not least, is the channels. the channel ribbing is actually the same thickness but if you look at the surface of the ball, the channel is slightly more raised and wider on the 2012 ball.
the 2006 ball's channels...
now stuff like the stampings and the channels may flatten out as the leather breaks in more but truthfully, i doubt it. theres a noticeable cushion-ey feel with the new ball. i wouldn't say its better, but it's just different. i kind of like the new ball as it's more consistent and i almost feel like with the old ball u have to either get sweaty super fast or you have to wet the ball down a lil with a wet rag or something. however, i LOVE how the 2006 ball felt when ur sweaty. i have TERRIBLE handling skills but the 2006 ball is COMPLETELY controllable if you're actually playing ball and sweating.
background:
the first ball i purchased was in 2006 when the nba decided to go to the composite ball and the "old" leather balls were going on closeout for $50 out here in so cal.... i picked one up. it was striaght up hard as a rock, it had zero grip, i wouldn't call it a rubber ball feel but it felt very plastic. so i played with this ball and shot a ton with it for about 3 years, took 2 years off and just started playing again with the jr high school i teach at and started shooting around with it. it broke in and you can definitely notice a better grip when you get sweaty. and the ball sounds CLEAN when you swish. it's like the ball doesn't stick when it goes through the net. also, the ball definitely banks off the backboard differently from composite balls. as you can still see, it has the old nba design and is still a bit shiny.
the new ball, i purchased 2 weeks ago. same sporting goods store i bought the original ball from. this one definitely has a different feel. first, it has a small bit of cushion. this can definitely be seen in the channel pics (see below). it also is a lot more grippy than the old ball when they were both new. i've only shot around with the new ball today for the first time for about 2 hours. i noticed that this ball's stickiness is more consistent. if your hands are dry, there's still some grip (i think it's largely due to the stamping of the ball and the channels), but if your hands get sweaty, it improves the grip but not nearly as much as the old ball.
diference 1: stampings
if you look at the picture enclosed here, the spalding logo is actually stamped onto the ball. if you look at any composite ball, this is very noticeable. on the nba leather ball, it's noticeable but not as bad as a composite ball.
this is the 2006 ball. as you can see, the spalding logo wasn't even stamped but rather the letters were just painted on. this definitely allowed for a more "consistent" feeling of the ball. with the new ball, you could kind of tell which panel your hands were on, the old one, the panels felt all the same.
again, you can see the stamping here on the new ball.
similar area on the 2006 ball. this is really the only noticeable stamping area of the 06 ball and it is much less faint in feeling than the oversized nba logo.
last but not least, is the channels. the channel ribbing is actually the same thickness but if you look at the surface of the ball, the channel is slightly more raised and wider on the 2012 ball.
the 2006 ball's channels...
now stuff like the stampings and the channels may flatten out as the leather breaks in more but truthfully, i doubt it. theres a noticeable cushion-ey feel with the new ball. i wouldn't say its better, but it's just different. i kind of like the new ball as it's more consistent and i almost feel like with the old ball u have to either get sweaty super fast or you have to wet the ball down a lil with a wet rag or something. however, i LOVE how the 2006 ball felt when ur sweaty. i have TERRIBLE handling skills but the 2006 ball is COMPLETELY controllable if you're actually playing ball and sweating.
