On October 31, 2006, the Netional Basketball Association (NBA) opened its 57t seeson with new official game bells The new ball, manufactured by Spalding, featured a new design and new material that together were believed to offer better grip, fee', end consistency than the previous leather ball The material wes microfiber composite with moisture management that provided superior grip and fee' throughout the course of a game. Additionally, the new composite material eliminated the need for a break-in period, which is necessary for a leather bell, and achieved consistency from ball to ball. The NBA end Spalding subjected the ball to rigorous evaluation process that included laboratory and on-court testing process. Every NBA team received the new ban and had the opportunity to use it in practice. The bell was also tested in the NBA summer development league At the press conference announcing the shift from leather to microfiber bells, NBA commissioner David Stern pronounced, "The advancement that Spalding has made to the new game ball ensures that the jest basketball players in the world will be playing with the best basketball in the world." Animal rights advocates applauded the shift from leather to microfiber Such was not the case for the players who would actually use the new ball Grumblings emerged immediately when training camps opened in October Washington Wizards guard Gilbert Arenas said tine new basketball "got slippery" wren it came in contact with even smell amounts of sweet. Then Miami Heat center Shaquille O'Neil said, "It feels like one oftnose cheap bells that you buy ate toy store." Some players, including league MVP Steve Nash, began complaining that the new bell was producing small cuts on their hands "It's awful [the friction burns), its like en irritant . _ sometimes I even nave to tepe my fingers in practice." Perhaps LeBron James from the Cleveland Cavaliers best summed up the players' attitudes toward the NBA's introduction of the new ball when he said, "You can change the dress code, you can make our shorts shorter, but when you take our basketball away from us, that's not a transition we can handle." Ingram Stock On December 1, 2006, four weeks into the season, the NBA players union filed an unfair labor practice suit because the league management switched to the new ball without consu'ting the players Ten days later, the NBA announced that they would revert to the old leather ball beginning January 1, 2007 In terse statement, Commissioner David Stern said, "Our players' response to this particular composite has been overwhelmingly negative and we ere acting accordingly!" The failure to check with the players the end users) and get buy-in for the new basketball was loudly criticized by the press "How they could actuaty even get it that fer end not have run it by the players is just en amazing, amazing exercise in ineptitude," Rob Franke', Los Angelesbased branding expert, told Bloomberg News