Miami Heat rookie Shabazz Napier says NBA ball caused problems

Shabazz Napier was part of two national championship teams at Connecticut and, upon becoming a first-round NBA draft pick, the last thing he expected was an equipment problem in the pros.

But after a showing in the Summer League that included shooting 27 percent and finishing with more turnovers than assists, Napier said there was one piece of the NBA experience he just wasn’t ready for.

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Napier told the Associated Press that problem was the basketball.

"“My biggest thing is getting comfortable with that basketball,” Napier said. “That’s one of my biggest problems and it’s kind of ironic, because it’s a basketball. But it’s different than a college basketball.”"

Napier had eight turnovers in his summer league debut in Orlando last month—more than any of the 143 games he played at Connecticut. In nine games in Orlando and Las Vegas, Napier had 38 turnovers—an unsightly average of 4.2 per game.

"“The funny thing is, I never really touched an NBA ball until I left school,” Napier said. “I told myself I never wanted to. I felt like it was superstitious, like something bad was going to happen, like I had to earn it. I never touched it and it’s definitely different. This ball is leather and the biggest thing for me now is getting comfortable with it.”"

There are other Miami rookies who agree with Napier that the ball is a different ball of wax.

"“It is different,” Tyler Johnson said. “Especially coming out of college. A lot of times, if the basketball gets wet, it gets slippery. Here, you get your hands wet to make it stick. It’s slippery on its own. It takes a little while to get that feel for it. It is a little bit different but you kind of forget about it after a while.”"

So Napier is taking a very touchy-feely approach to getting ready for training camp next month.

Napier averaged 18 points, 5.9 rebounds, 4.9 assists and 1.8 steals in 35.1 minutes per game for the Huskies last season while shooting .429/.405/.870. But in the Summer League, those averages fell to 9.7 points, 3.8 assists, 3.4 rebounds, 2.1 steals in 27.3 minutes per game and a shooting line of .275/.196/.710.