HLBT Daily: David Stern - Chief of the Fashion Police, Cuban's Physicists

Commissioner David Stern is turning into Chief of the Fashion Police Force. Not only has he given himself the power to dictate what "his" players wear off the court, though he now mandates that players take off their warm-ups in front of the bench, rather than in front of the press table. 99% of the players in the league undress in front of the table; some are even still ripping off their clothes as they walk on the court. As of now, failure to comply will result in a delay of game warning for the wrongdoing player's team.

I realize that the NBA does have a bit of a "thug image" issue, hence the off-court dress code. But a "stripper image?" I don't know about that.
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Mark Cuban, the perpetually mutinous owner of the Dallas Mavericks, has hired physicists to run tests on the NBA's new composite leather balls. NBA players will not stop complaining about the new balls - manufactured by longtime NBA game ball partner, Spalding - and Cuban wants a resolution.

"I was curious what the facts are," Cuban said of his idea to have physicists test the ball. "Rather than speculating, I asked the profs to actually do a test, to give us real data. The results support there is a definite difference."

So far, Cuban's physicists have discovered that, when dropped from a height of five feet, the composite ball bounces an average of four inches lower than the leather ball. They also say that the new ball, which Spalding claimed to have advanced moisture absorbing technology, actually is slower to absorb liquid than the old leather ball.

Cuban's attitude has apparently rubbed off on his players. Commenting on the ball's consistency, Dirk Nowitzki explains, "If it's played with for two months or if it's brand new, it feels bad... So at least they accomplished that." What a jokester, that Dirk. Mavericks Point Guard Anthony Johnson offers, "I go to sleep every night dreaming that we'll have that leather ball back sooner or later. Until then, I'll just keep my fingers crossed." Jolly good, Mr. Johnson!