Is there a problem with the basketballs in NBA?

When last year the NBA had chosen to move away from Spalding after 37 seasons as the official ball's provider and went back to Wilson, the major fear was the feedback from players. In 2006, the last time the League tried to change the basketballs introducing one made of synthetic materials, the players complains forced Commissioner David Stern to back down and bring back the old basketballs. 

With this in mind when Wilson got the job started to reassure everyone that nothing would have changed. They would have kept the iconic eight panel pattern and they would have sourced the leather from the same company, Horween Leather Company in Chicago. But even with all the Wilson's carefulness, have sent the ball to all the players months before the start of the season, the athletes always get the last word. 

So after two weeks of games the feedback are not what they could have hoped. Despite the same weight, pressure and dimension of the Spalding's one, something in the player's feeling with the basketball was off. Especially in light of the shooting numbers, the worst of the last century, many players are accusing the new balls being the culprit. 

Paul George, one of this season best player, claimed that he won't use it as an alibi but the ball is clearly a different one and it lacks the same touch and softness. Devin Booker admits he's having some troubles to find the feeling with the ball while Joel Embiid is frustrated by his performances and blame the basketball for it.  

Some journalists and analysts however have already debunked this theory, explaining how every year the offensive execution needs a little time to warm up and any anomaly is perfectly reasonable inside the statistic sample this small. There are also other elements to consider beside the new basketball: the NBA has finally going back to having fans inside the arenas and in the last two years and fatigue is gonna catch up with the players after a couple of packed seasons. Kyle Kuzma, Washington Wizards wing, has also suggested that the new set of rules gives the defense the opportunity to be more aggressive and Trae Young, Atlanta Hawks playmaker, admits he's in favor of the Wilson ball. 

For C.J. McCollum, President of Player's Association his peers need to ease into the new basketball but is looking forward to get more feedbacks in the future. Like any other sport who's based on repetition and familiarity with an object, changes in basketball are not welcomed and need time to settle down. It's possible that the new Wilson balls are equal as the Spalding one, with the sole difference to be the need to be soften up. Meanwhile the NBA players reminded us the first rule of every hooper: it's always the ball's fault.