NBA admits ignoring traveling rule and now changes it
 

Updated: October 16, 2009, 1:44 AM ET
NBA to alter traveling rules


<cite class="source"> ESPN.com news services
</cite>

<!-- end mod-article-title --> <!-- begin story body --> NBA players will be able to take two steps before they have to stop, pass or shoot this season.

The NBA has put into writing a rule allowing players on the move to gather the ball, after driving or catching it, and then take two steps. Throughout NBA history, the rulebook said players could take one step.
The new rule reads, in part "A player who receives the ball while he is progressing or upon completion of a dribble, may take two steps in coming to a stop, passing or shooting the ball."
It is believed to be the first time any league, at any level anywhere in the world, has explicitly allowed two steps.
In March, NBA vice president of referee operations Joe Borgia told TrueHoop's Henry Abbott that referees had long been instructed to ignore the rulebook on this point and allow two steps.
On a conference call with reporters earlier this week, NBA executive vice president of basketball operations Stu Jackson told Abbott: "Based on Joe's comments, when you had a conversation with Joe, we did in fact tweak the language on traveling in this year's book."
Enforcement of the one-step rule has been hit-or-miss at every level of basketball. Archival footage shows NBA greats, from Magic Johnson and Pete Maravich to Bob Cousy and Julius Erving, getting away with two steps. Borgia, whose father was also an NBA official, said he cannot remember a time when NBA referees did not allow two steps.
Others insist allowing two steps represents an NBA strategy to aid scorers and make the league more exciting. Legendary point guard and current Knick broadcaster Walt "Clyde" Frazier says the league relaxed traveling standards some time ago to increase scoring.
"They go 20 feet to the hoop without dribbling one time," Frazier said. "This is what they are getting away with nowadays. Some of them are so obvious. You'll hear me on the broadcast saying 'That's a travel! Watch the feet!' Wilt [Chamberlain] would have averaged 100 points a game if they had let him do that.
"When guys couldn't put up points, about when they changed the hand-check rule, they made things easier for scorers, because these players can't shoot like we did," Frazier said. "Those few years when the Knicks were good [the early 1990s] -- that wasn't pretty basketball."
Whether or not this will affect play on the court remains to be seen. Referees have long been instructed to allow two steps and in interviews with NBA players last season there was some confusion about the rule. But most said they thought they were allowed to take two steps.
ESPN.com TrueHoop blogger Henry Abbott contributed to this story.

Walt Frazier is right on. The NBA is not real basketball. It is about entertainment and making money, so the league has done whatever it can to increase scoring in the belief that that will sell more tickets and increase the TV audience.

True enough, but not unique to the NBA. Look at the average score in a MLB game today and 30 years ago (mainly park design and player fitness -- steroids AFAIK were not introduced deliberately to increase scoring). NFL, NHL have also changed rules to increase scoring.

Unfortunately, great defense sells tix only to wonks like me.

I know NBA scoring has diminished over the last 30 years or so. Does anybody know the actual numbers?

'78 - '79 110.3
'88 - '89 109.2
'98 - '99 91.6
'01 - '02 95.5
'04 - '05 97.2
'08 - '09 100.0

This article validates what I, and many others, thought. That if NBA players were getting away with travelling it's was because the NBA officials were calling (or not calling) that play per guidance from supervision.

I recall a couple folks who just couldn't wrap their brains around that premise.

Just in case nobody noticed, NCAA officials are also ignoring a lot of traveling.

Yeah, but that's not with the supervisor's approval.

I will say not totally true.

There is a different in interpretation of traveling:

There is a obvious travel and the other is not so obvious.

One is everyone can observe.

The other is not.

So supervisors not totally knowing is not totally true.

I can't wait for the first "But he gets two steps" this year from a howler monkey who has watched some NBA games.

????
My head hurts. I will say, you rarely see the little incidental travels called at that level. You know the ones, with no advantage and they only constitute a bit of a shuffle after gathering the ball. They're easy to spot but rarely called.

It's not ignoring the rule so much as interpreting it in a way that helps you advance.

Now that it’s officially in the rule book as two steps, the officials will be instructed to allow three steps.

I have only one question:

How does this affect the crab dribble?

i was thinking the same

Ask this guy...
http://i42.tinypic.com/2zp6nhc.gif

I wasn't attempting to say ignore the rule. I was just addressing the comment that supervisor(s) may not know.

Most of them do, they want the obvious one(s) called and the one(s) were no advantage in gained passed on. That's the point I was attempting to make.

Gotcha. Sorry, I wasn't reading clearly.

Per the old post above, we got a hint back in March that the legal NBA 2 step was coming. Despite the best of intentions, getting the borderline travel calls right is hard. I'm not surprising that the new rule reads in part, "A player who receives the ball while he is progressing or upon completion of a dribble, may take two steps in coming to a stop, passing or shooting the ball.". While it is not surprising, it is a bad move that puts the NBA rule at odds with the travel rule at every other level. An acknowledgment that when there is doubt on traveling, a no call is appropriate would have served the purpose.


Take a look at this Lebron travel video from the NBA NBA Video Rule Book. If Lebron had not taken a "3rd step" would you have called travelling for him taking "2 steps"?

I don't know when that clip was posted, but if it was prior to the rewrite of the NBA rule, then we have more information that the instruction was counter to the written rule.
From the accompanying text to the video:
"A dribbler may take two steps after gathering the ball to end a dribble."

The clip was posted after the rule change. I am posing the hypothetical to make the point that determining a travel at any level is sometimes difficult and that when there is legitimate doubt we should and often do pass on calling a violation. I would like to know if after reviewing the video, and assuming that there was no third step and that the old rule was in play, if my fellow forum members would call a violation. For me, there would be enough doubt in real time, to not call a violation.

Looking at the NBA video rulebook, I dont see much of a change. ..

If you look at the three step play, even in high school the first "two steps" were legal.

In NFHS unless I am way off base we allow two steps now.

Look at 4-44 ..

If both feet are off the floor and a player lands simultaneous on both feet (step one).. either foot can be a pivot and you can take a second step with non pivot... (step two)

if both feet are off the floor and one foot is followed by another first to hit is pivot (step one) and second foot hitting( is setp two)...

If catches with one foot on the floor (step one) and jump stops (step two) any steps after that is a third step.......

Although the NBA will allow two steps based on the video and interpretations I dont see how things will change much....

Bottom line we miss alot of travels because we dont know what the pivot foot is... In a fast moving game with a full run do we all know the moment the player catches the ball and then know which foot or feet are on the ground? If we dont I would not be criticizing the NBA way until we can get it right...

How many of us have a player standing on the ground, catches the ball, and player jumps to left or right, or forward and lands on both feet again and then shoots?

Travel by rule but when you call it everybody yells at you.... but it is still a travel...

It makes no sense why all of these people on here think they are learning NBA rules from an article which said that last year players were allowed "one step". They make fun of the media for not knowing what they are talking about all the time but then this article comes along and everyone believes every word. I mean seriously, it is obvious this guy has no idea what the rules are. It wasn't "one step" last year. I haven't seen the new NBA rule book but I doubt it will say anything about "2 steps". Traveling will still be called with the movement of the pivot foot. The NBA already had different rules (opposed to NCAA, NFHS) regarding alighting with the ball and establishing a pivot foot. I doubt a slight change to that will have a large effect on the game.

The previous NBA rule stated that the player could come to a stop with "a two-count rhythm" whatever that meant. The problem was that the phrase was not precisely defined and no one had any idea what the officials were using. Now we at least know that the standard is two steps.
That clarification alone is significant.

That's exactly why I get confused when the discussion centers around "number of steps" -- I wouldn't call any of your "step one" a step.

:eek:

This is the first I'm hearing of this! Say it ain't so, Nevada!

:rolleyes:

NBA.com: NBA clarifies update -- not change -- to traveling rule


Posted Oct 23 2009 6:00PM

NEW YORK (AP) -- The correct call: The NBA has not changed the traveling rule.

Stu Jackson, the league's executive vice president of basketball operations, said recent media reports that the rule had been changed to allow an extra step after the dribble were not true.

"We have not changed the traveling rule, nor how we enforce the rule," Jackson said Friday during the league's annual preseason conference call. "What we did change was some antiquated language in our existing rule as it related to steps."

The section of the NBA rulebook dealing with traveling used to allow players to "use a two-count rhythm in coming to a stop." It was reworded this season to say players "may take two steps in coming to a stop, passing or shooting the ball."

So do you think that my check is in the mail? ;)

It should be. You nailed it.

A New Light.
 

There was a game the other night in which a Celtic was called for a travel at the same time a foul was called on the player guarding him. the officials conferenced and I don't know if they looked at the tape, but the ruling was that the foul came first -- I reran the play over and over and was convinced that the travel happened first, therefore dead ball and no foul. Now, however, I see the rule change and it's clear that the two-step traveling rule led to the decision that he hadn't "completed" the travel before being fouled.

The announcers, who should have updated themselves on any and all rules or interpretations changes before sitting behind a microphone for a regular season game, were clueless.

The question, though, is does legalizing the two-step mean they can get away with three?

I hope there isn't a Texas gunslinger about to disagree with you! :D

It depends on who you are. This whole brouhaha is all about creating another, more elite tier within the NBA. The new ultra elite NBA athlete will be given three steps on the travel and is guaranteed never to have a foul called on him. Ever. It was hammered out in the latest contract negotiations. :cool:

Clueless? What A Surprise ...
 

No way. I can't imagine a basketball announcer not updating himself on the latest rules. Don't they all do what Billy Packer used to do to prepare for the season? Packer would literally spend seconds, sometimes almost a dozen seconds, studying rule updates each year.

This is horrible. It will leak down to the high school games.

What are we supposed to call? Call what they see everyone on TV get away with? Hopefully the NCAA officials will stick to the rule which is quite simple.