The NBA is pushing hard for their short-sleeved jerseys to catch on with players and fans, but that might be an uphill battle when the "King" is against them. LeBron James pinned his struggles in a blowout loss to the San Antonio Spurs on being uncomfortable in the new threads.
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"I'm not making excuses, but I'm not a big fan of the jerseys," said James, after scoring just 19 points. "Every time I shoot it feels like it's just pulling right up underneath my arm. I already don't have much room for error on my jump shot. It's definitely not a good thing."
Lately he's having all sorts of problems with items he's wearing. Despite having a broken nose from a Serge Ibaka shot attempt, then having the nose "re-broken" by Dwight Howard a few nights later, LeBron played the final three quarters of the Spurs game sans clear plastic face guard.
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"I don't like it," he said. "I got a message from my wife at halftime telling me to put it back on, so I may be in trouble when I get home." LeBron was taken to task by the league in his first game back from the broken nose for wearing a custom black mask designed by Marvel, that violated league policies. He was told to ditch the mask and go with the regulated clear version.
Still, LeBron's main problem was the tugging of sleeves on his arms while he tries to shoot. He may have a good deal of clout but the new digs don't seem to be going anywhere.
"We know that shooting percentages are virtually exactly the same for games in which we have sleeved jerseys and teams in which the guys are wearing conventional jerseys," new NBA commissioner Adam Silver said. "So I'm pretty comfortable from a competitive standpoint that it's having no impact."
Silver also cited "enormous demand" for the jerseys among fans, so LeBron can expect them to stay.
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