LeBron James has gotten away with a lot of travels over the course of his 22-year NBA career, but one in particular stands out to him as his “crowning achievement.”
The Lakers star James released his latest “Mind The Game” podcast episode with co-host Steve Nash on Tuesday. During the episode, Nash asked James what “the most egregious travel” he had ever gotten away with was.
James pinpointed one specific incident during a game in Feb. 2017 against the Washington Wizards. While still a member of the Cleveland Cavaliers at the time, James took the ball coast-to-coast late in the contest, took an obvious third step after picking up his dribble, and then proceeded to smoke the layup.
The four-time champion James admitted that “I traveled like a mother” but got away with it (though he hinted that it was karmic justice that he missed the layup). Here is the video of James’ remarks, complete with a clip of the travel in question.
Instant karma is real on the court. @KingJames found out the hard way in 2017 at Washington. pic.twitter.com/EQwv8heWqU
— Mind the Game (@mindthegamepod) June 24, 2025
In that clip, you can see that it was referee Tony Brothers who was right on top of that play … but still didn’t blow his whistle. James and the Cavs also went on to win that game against the Wizards in overtime by a final score of 140-135, so it ultimately ended up as a positive memory for James.
As for his career highlight reel of travels, James has more than enough options to choose from on that front as one of the game’s most notorious extra-steppers. If you don’t believe that the 2017 travel against the Wizards was the most egregious one of his career, you can also make an argument for this one or possibly for this one as well.
