While the headline of the day in the NBA was the unanimous passing of increased fines, as well as investigative powers at the disposal of the league to combat tampering, perhaps the most interesting move for basketball viewers was a clear definition of what has been referred to as “the gather.”
The concept of “the gather” has become a frequent point of discussion in NBA circles, mostly because of Houston’s James Harden and how his step-back jumper existed in an undefined grey area of the rule book. Even LeBron tried to add the Harden step-back with the extra long gather to his repertoire last year. However, the league has finally defined it. And if the league enforces the new rule as written, shots like this one LeBron tried would be a travel.
The league is going to release a video next week showing examples of the behavior they are trying to weed out of the game. They have deemed a gather to be whenever a player stops their dribble, with the first step at the end of the dribble starting the count. So, the shot above would have been three steps as LeBron took one step when he stopped his dribble but took two more after on his way up with the shot.
If you’ve been looking at highlights of NBA players from offseason workouts, you may have seen that James Harden has turned his step-back into a one-legged shot. Perhaps the reason why is if he doesn’t, it appears to be a travel under the league’s clarified rules.
