Dec. 11 (Bloomberg) -- The National Basketball Association is switching back to a leather ball, scrapping the composite model after complaints from high-profile players, the players union chief said.

The league will return to the leather ball on Jan. 1, provided it can find enough of a supply, union Executive Director Billy Hunter said in a telephone interview.

Some players said the composite ball caused cuts on their fingers.

``It's going to be an adjustment going back to the old one,'' Wally Szczerbiak of the Boston Celtics said in an interview. ``It's a totally different feel.''

Dan Touhey, marketing vice president for Spalding Sports Worldwide Inc., which manufactures both balls, didn't immediately return a voice mail message seeking comment.

NBA spokesman Tim Frank said in an e-mail that ``when there is something new to announce about the game ball, we will make an announcement.''

Hunter praised Commissioner David Stern for showing flexibility in the matter.

``It's great,'' Hunter said. ``He showed a lot of integrity and professionalism. I applaud him for it.''

The union will drop an unfair-labor-practice grievance over the ball that it filed with the National Labor Relations Board two weeks ago, Hunter said.

Among the players who complained about the new ball were LeBron James, Shaquille O'Neal and two-time Most Valuable Player Steve Nash.

``I remember when you just played, when there was no net,'' said Isiah Thomas, a former All-Star guard and now president and coach of the New York Knicks. ``The rim was bent and the wind was blowing, and somehow you put it in the hole.''

To contact the reporter on this story: Scott Soshnick in New York at ssoshnick@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: December 11, 2006 18:33 EST