Added Seattle’s Ray Allen, one of the NBA’s best shooters: “Every guy I’ve talked to, to a man, is in disagreement about the ball. The bottom line is we’re out there playing and the ball is not going in like we know we’re capable of putting it in, or like we’ve done in the past.”

NBA spokesman Brian McIntyre said the league was “reviewing what they have filed.”

The players feel they were entitled to have input on both changes before they were put into play. In its release, the union said the “zero-tolerance policy” was implemented without any consultation or advanced notice as required “according to the terms of the National Labor Relations Act and the 2005 NBA/NBPA Collective Bargaining Agreement.”

“You never want to feel that the NBA’s a dictatorship,” Wizards veteran Antonio Daniels said.

The section of the CBA regarding On-Court Conduct, states, in part:

“Prior to the date on which any new rule promulgated by the NBA becomes effective, the NBA shall provide notice of such new rule to the Players Association and consult with the Players Association with respect thereto.”

The crackdown isn’t a new rule, however, but rather a point of emphasis. Under Stern’s directive, players are fined $1,000 for each of their first five technicals. The fine increases by $500 for each five after that, capped by a $2,500 penalty for each one starting with the 16th. A one-game suspension also comes at that point and for every other technical thereafter.

“To give a technical foul, it’s giving money back,” Stackhouse said. “If it’s a technical foul, all right, penalize the team. But don’t take guys’ money for natural reactions toward heat of the moment things. We’re not robots. They would say they don’t want us to become robots, but that’s what it’s becoming.

“Everything doesn’t have to be we’re going to show you by taking your money away. A thousand dollars is a thousand dollars, no matter whether you are making $9 million or $30,000.”

Players also argue they weren’t involved in the decision to use a new ball. The league unveiled it in June and sent one to its teams and all players before the start of training camp. It also was used in the All-Star game and during summer league play.

Superstars such as Shaquille O’Neal and LeBron James are among those who have blasted it, and many others have complained that it feels and performs far differently than the old leather ball, criticizing the way it bounces off the floor and the rim.

“I was surprised when they announced that they were changing the ball,” Sacramento’s Shareef Abdur-Rahim. “That shouldn’t happen without some input from the players. I’ve never cared for the new ball, and I’m a big guy. When ballhandlers like Steve Nash and Jason Kidd are complaining about it, that says a lot.”

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