Can GD make text appear warped (made to look like it wraps around a curve slightly)?

I am placing some text over an image using PHP's GD library.

The background image is a ball. Ideally, the text should warp slightly to look like it is on a curved surface. It should be largest in the middle, and scale slightly smaller on each end (text is not known before hand either, but there is a maximum length of 15 chars).

Is this possible, or do I need to use a better library than GD?

Thanks

For image effects, I suggest you look at Imagick. Although it's possible in GD, you need to write your own math algorithms for such.