LeBron Upset His 'Crab Dribble' Was Called a Travel in Final Seconds Against Wizards

The Cavs dropped a close one in Washington Sunday afternoon, thanks mostly to scoring just 11 points in the third quarter. But even so, they found themselves down by two with under 10 seconds to play when LeBron James went with a signature move to the basket for what would have been the tying layup, only to have the referees whistle him for the rare traveling call, which sealed the game for the Wizards. But was it a travel? LeBron certainly didn't think so; take a look for yourself.

The way I saw it, LeBron definitely picked up his dribble before making the step-through, and watching the replay (at about the :50 second mark) you can count the three steps he takes after he picked up the ball.

Not surprisingly, LeBron disagreed with the call, and felt that his 'trademark play' was a perfectly legal maneuver.

"You have your trademark play, and that's one of my plays. It kind of looks like a travel because it's slow, and it's kind of a high-step, but it's a one-two just as fluent as any other one-two in this league. I got the wrong end of it, but I think they need to look at it -- and they need to understand that's not a travel," James said. "It's a perfectly legal play, something I've always done."

Just because LeBron has always done it, doesn't make it necessarily legal. We've all seen LeBron take that hop step many times before, but the question of whether or not it's legal depends on whether or not he terminates the dribble before taking that first step. In this case, it seems clear that the ball was picked up before he made the move, which caused him to take the extra step that resulted in the traveling call from the official.

Caron Butler had the best quotes on the incident, when he mentioned that he was surprised (and thankful) that the refs actually blew the whistle in that situation.

"I definitely knew he traveled, but I didn't know they were going to call it," Butler said about what happened Sunday. "That was one of them situations in which a great player made a move, good officiating, and they called the call. And I was like, 'Oh, man, there is a God.' "

When you're the Wizards and you've lost 25 of your first 32 games, and you beat the team that keeps eliminating you from the playoffs year after year, I guess you can hardly blame Butler for viewing the call on LeBron as somewhat of a religious experience.

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)

1-04-2009 @ 10:29PM

Evan said...

Lebron is so full of himself. How many games in the playoffs against the Wizards did Lebron "win" at the final second because he traveled, but didn't get called for it? But he dares to complain about this measly game in January? All players travel in the NBA, but Lebron is infamous for it, and he has the gall to pretend he doesn't travel. For crying out loud, Lebron is notorious for having crossed 3/4 of the court with just 2 dribbles and taking 4 or 5 steps to take a layup, just look up the youtube video. Just because he's always done it, doesn't mean it's not a travel. It just means the refs always overlook it, and for the first time the refs did the right thing today.

1-04-2009 @ 10:46PM

Lebron's "explanation" is the same thing as someone saying "I have always killed people and never got caught doing it, so I didn't do anything wrong this time" after finally being caught for killing someone.

1-04-2009 @ 11:08PM

Andy said...

The referee got it right. Good call.

1-05-2009 @ 12:17AM

PG said...

This game was not supposed to depend on a clutch shot from LeBron, anyway. Don't know what he's complaining about.

Oh yeah, Brett! I'm super curious: What's with Pollakoff? Edwards not exotic enough for ya?

1-05-2009 @ 1:05AM

VN said...

At first view, it does seem like a travel, but after hearing Lebron's post-game comments I'm starting to have my doubts. It would be nice if Fanhouse actually posted his entire quote about the play and not just the part that benefits the post and makes him look like an idiot.

The point Lebron was trying to make was that the first step that he took was while he was still bringing the ball up from the dribble - something labled as a "Crab Dribble" - so it did not count towards the two-step max. It seems to be a borderline call, but Lebron's explanation is CORRECT. That is his "move" and is definitely legal if done right. This time he may have taken that step a bit early, and I can't blame the refs for calling it. But if the game was in Cleveland, thats a guaranteed no-call. Love NBA officiating.

1-05-2009 @ 4:56AM

Lebron's quote is irrelevant here because all you need is the video to determine whether or not Lebron traveled, and he did. Even if his explanation of the "crab dribble" is correct, that's also irrelevant. Take a new born baby for example and suppose it could talk to you. If it said "This is how you 'walk', you put your right foot forward, and then you put your left foot forward". But if the baby can never execute that, it doesn't matter how correct its explanation of "walking" is, his execution will always be wrong. Lebron can correctly explain away what a crab dribble is until he is red in the face, but until he executes a proper run to the layup, he should be called for a travel at least half the time he makes a run to the hole. It's his sad attempt at trying to pass off a clear mistake as something legal and being sanctimonious about it are what make him look like an idiot, not this article's omission of an irrelevant quote.

1-05-2009 @ 5:15AM

1-05-2009 @ 5:19AM

Lebron's quote is irrelevant here because all you need is the video to determine whether or not Lebron traveled, and he did. Even if his explanation of the "crab dribble" is correct, that's also irrelevant. Take a new born baby for example and suppose it could talk to you. If it said "This is how you 'walk', you put your right foot forward, and then you put your left foot forward". But if the baby can never execute that, it doesn't matter how correct its explanation of "walking" is, his execution will always be wrong. Lebron can correctly explain away what a crab dribble is until he is red in the face, but until he correctly executes a run for a layup, he should be called for a travel at least half the time he makes a trip to the hole. It's his sad attempt at trying to pass off a clear mistake as something legal and being sanctimonious about it are what make him look like an idiot, not this article's omission of an irrelevant quote.

1-05-2009 @ 1:43AM

PeeDee said...

- That is his "move" and is definitely legal if done right. -

yeah right! my move (IF DONE RIGHT) would be to take the defensive Rebound, take a dribble, then leap from one back of my teammates to the other (didn`t touch the ground!) and finaly take the last two steeps at the hardwood for an easy bucket.

damit! i should definetly be in the nba, maybe i shoul call mr.Thomas in new york and tell him about my move

1-05-2009 @ 1:59AM

Mr.G said...

VN - Nice post and a good explaination,but the haters would rather keep on hatin'. Bron doesn't travel any more than other players do.Even less than a certain guy in Miami.

1-06-2009 @ 7:09AM

bill said...

maybe so. But he still travelled

1-05-2009 @ 3:18AM

Step said...

It wasn't a legal move, crab dribble nonsense or not. The step count should begin the moment he stops his dribble and grasps the ball with two hands. From that starting point, he took three steps.

What I'm curious about is not so much the refreshing professionalism of the refs in calling a travel at that juncture of the game on a player of that caliber, but whether they were looking for it because they realized they had missed a traveling call when Lebron had tied the game at 77 the possession before. They had most certainly did because, again, Lebron had taken three steps but that time it was two plus the Euro side-step. I wonder whether they had huddled up and talked it over and made sure to focus on Lebron's steps.

1-05-2009 @ 1:36PM

marylouise said...

A 3 step dribble is a 3 step dribble is an illegal move.
Call it a crab dribble or not its still 3 steps. Lebron should be
called for it every time he does it.

1-05-2009 @ 12:10PM

Vic said...

Film doesn't lie! It's about time that some of these superstars are held accountable! Reading from someone else's comments "I'm beginning to have doubt" about the correct call. Come on....look at the film. Since when is three steps allowed. GOOD CALL! A bad call could have cost the hapless Wizards a win!

1-05-2009 @ 12:49PM

Alberto Garcia said...

Listen, some players get away with a signature play all their career and it's wrong. It's a good call. Shaq got away with coming around with the face-high elbows for a loooooooooooooooong time "brutalizing" (as he liked to say) people and for as long as it did it and it was very frustrating for all fans that had to endure it until they finally put an end to it and an end to Shaq's career. Michael Jordan got away with palming the ball in almost every drive to the basket (yes, I went there and you all know it's true)

1-05-2009 @ 12:55PM

John said...

I love the CC's ,,, but baby that was traveling plain and simple.

1-05-2009 @ 1:02PM

jOSEPH said...

the league made a joke regarding traveling and palming the ball years ago. That's the only way these players can make these plays.

1-05-2009 @ 1:18PM

Brian said...

Good for the refs! Lebron probably called Stern after the game to say, "Hey, you said I would be just like MJ!" You know, no calls on traveling, off arm pushes, taunting,etc.. Just like Mike!

Word to the NBA players: LEARN TO DRIBBLE! LEARN TO DEFEND,SET BACK SCREENS, BOX OUT,TO PLAY THE GAME!

Reality, they could call this and palming on half the guards in the NBA

1-05-2009 @ 1:22PM

Kevin said...

It was clearly a travel - but the best players are supposed to get the call in their favor - right MJ? Come on the NBA is about theatrics not fundemental basketball. It's closer to big time wrestling than it is to the game that Naismith invented! Word!

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