'Cheap, toy store balls'

I'd like to thank Shaq-Fu for weighing in on the NBA's new game ball... which he compared to the sort of indoor/outdoor balls usually sold at places like KayBee Toys, imprinted with a picture of SpongeBob Square Pants.

Here's my suggestion -- let's bring a grand pickup hoops tradition to the NBA. Each player brings his own ball, and before the game, the teams will decide whether to use the leather ball with one of the panels starting to tear away on one side, the ball that's slightly deflated, the ball that's over-inflated like the ones used in the free-throw booth at a church carnival, or the beat old model that has a slight bulge on one side. Let's see what THAT would do to shooting percentages.

ESPN.com: Shaq detests NBA's new balls