The NBA has become more lenient on traveling violations than they once were. While the league did start placing a greater emphasis on calls like traveling, carrying, and others last season, there are still ways to exploit the rules that current players have gotten savvy with.
During a recent appearance on Gil’s Arena, former Denver Nuggets guard Nate Robinson shared an interesting take about LeBron James, and how the Los Angeles Lakers star was the first player to begin using a hop-step to get extra steps in without receiving a traveling violation.
“That’s a travel. They don’t call that no more. LeBron did that sh-t,” Robinson said. “He started doing that hop-step and then taking two steps and then dunking off of coming down from a jump-step. I’m like, after [the hop-step] you gotta go up. They’re taking two more steps, it’s crazy.”
One of the best dunkers of his era, Robinson doesn’t like how the NBA now allows players to take extra steps after their hop-step, which has become a savvy way to gain more ground before going up. This is an interesting discussion that has become very controversial in NBA circles, but the former Dunk Contest champion believes LeBron James is traveling when utilizing that move.
While Robinson believes this move should be a travel, it’s usually allowed by NBA officials.
