Bradley Beal traveled on Monday night.
He traveled so, so bad. In the big scheme of travels, this was right up there with some of the worst, or best, depending on how you look at it. Down a bunch to the Pistons with seven minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, Beal received the ball on the perimeter, then worked off a pick and drove to the hoop.
He collected the dribble to go up for a layup, and then realized that a very large Pistons player was about to reject his shot.
So he just kept running with the ball. I count four, possibly five steps taken after he collected the ball. Then he passed it.
And the refs didn’t blow the whistle.
There may have been worse travels in the history of the NBA, but this is right up there with the worst uncalled travels in the history of the league.
Perhaps the best part about the whole thing though was that, after the game, Beal logged onto Twitter to defend himself. Sort of:
It’s good to laugh. Especially when the Wizards aren’t very good at basketball right now. Laughter is good.
UPDATE:
The official account of the NBA Referee’s Association has defended the call, saying this was legal.
This sounds official and is TOTAL nonsense.
If you lose control of the ball, you’re allowed to regain your pivot foot? What would stop a player from running up the court, “losing possession” of the ball every step and just slapping it up in the air as he sprinted the length of the floor?
This is anarchy. Shenanigans! Madness! What are we even doing here?!
