Some NBA players are blaming drop in performance on.... the new ball?

I was looking at some stats the other day and found out that despite the rather fast pace of play this year there are very few outstanding players so far this season.

It has been a bit of a train wreck for a lot of players and while I certainly don't think that scoring less than 25 points a game is anything to be ashamed of, we have seen a dramatic drop in the amount of people that are actually accomplishing that at the moment.

Last year by this time we had 12 people in the league that could claim this unofficial prize, but this year at the same point in the season we have only 6. A few people have been blaming the new ball, which I think is a bit of a lame excuse, but that is what they are saying.

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I'm not really sure why they felt compelled to change the ball, but they did. I would imagine it has something to do with money because now every club is going to be forced to buy a bunch of new basketballs. The general public will likely follow suit. It is a dirty trick on the part of Wilson and the NBA to force sales but guess what folks? The NBA and all other sports are about MONEY, not about the actual sport.

One thing that I think is actually leading to fewer points being scored by the usual "superstars" is that they changed the foul rules this year that in order to get free throws it has to be determined by the referee that the player actually had a chance to make the shot. This makes it far more difficult for career floppers like James Harden and Lebron James to get sent to the line a bunch of times per game.

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I can't really say that I am at all disappointed to see this change in the rules because it gets kind of old when some superstar drives to the hoop with the intention of drawing a foul rather than to try to just score points. Not everyone put this cheat code into their tactics over the years, and lo' and behold they are not seeing dramatic drops in points per game.

What we do get is a lot more whining from the men who constantly flop as this change in the rules (a much needed one IMO) is dramatically affecting their ability to put points on the board.

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_{This has been going on a long time for Harden}

Someone recently said that "this rule change is hurting "superstars" disproportionately rather than "average" players who never incorporated the flop strategy in their game to begin with." So if you are looking at one of your favorite players' stats and wondering what the hell is going on, it is because they are being forced to actually play fair instead of relying on their fame for calls they do not deserve.

I think blaming it on the ball is a massive copout on the part of the players who are attempting to do so. In my opinion, the main and perhaps only reason behind their collective drops in points per game has everything to do with the fact that they are not allowed to cheat their way into an extra 10 points per game.

What do you think?