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Looks like the answer is YES...
The NBA is planning a return to its leather basketball on Jan. 1, sources said Monday afternoon.
Commissioner David Stern has said in the last week that he was considering changing from the new synthetic basketball that has been met with near-universal bashing by the players. The ball was part of the reason the NBA players' association filed unfair labor practices against the league last week.
While details of the transition have not been finalized and the official date for the return of the old ball could change, the sources said the leather ball that was used for 35 years will be back in play before midseason.
It won't come soon enough for players who were irritated with the unnatural feel of the micro-fiber composite ball. They also had been getting the equivalent of nasty paper cuts on their fingertips and palms because of uneven ridges in the new ball.
The players were upset not only with the fact that the new ball is too sticky when it's dry and too slippery when it has sweat on it, but by the way the league made the change without significant consultation with the players.
It is unknown whether the league will commission Spalding, which makes both the new and old ball, to work on a different version for future seasons.
Players from Shaquille O'Neal to Steve Nash to Dirk Nowitzki had said they were strongly opposed to the new ball.
"If it's played with for two months or if it's brand new, it feels bad,'' Nowitzki said near the start of the season.
If the change is made on Jan. 1, it means most teams will have about 50 games left in the regular season.