Changing the ball?

[La Rikardo]

When I first started officiating basketball, coming from my background in soccer, I was caught off-guard when we were given only one ball. In soccer, multiple balls usually end up being used in any given game. NCAA rules actually require a minimum of five balls. At the amateur level, it's not at all uncommon for a team to put a ball in play that we hadn't checked as the referee crew. Often times we'll hear one or several players complain that the ball is too hard/soft, in which case we'll check it at the next stoppage and replace it if necessary.

Anyway, back to basketball, to me it wouldn't seem like a big deal to switch out a ball if a player complains that it's too hard/soft. Of course, if the ball is on the end of the spectrum one way or the other, we should probably be asking the teams' guards before the game what they think before we decide to use that ball.