Dwyane Wade nailed the winning shot to beat the Bobcats 96-95 Wednesday night. Rob Mahoney at Hardwood Paroxysm put together a well illustrated video showing that Wade traveled on his final shot.
The NBA took notice of Mahoney’s video and created an NBA Officials Twitter account to respond to the supposed missed call. Their first and only tweet linked to a brief explanation of why no travel was called.
“The Dwyane Wade basket shown in the below video is a legal basketball move. Wade gathered the ball with his right foot on the floor: his first step is when both feet touch the floor simultaneously and his second is when he steps forward with his right foot.”
I’ve seen some blatant travels in the NBA, but Wade’s play didn’t look like one to me. Mahoney’s video does a great job explaining what makes it a travel, and the difference between his opinion and the league’s is what was considered the first step.
I honestly believe the NBA rule book is so vague and expansive that they could have defended the decision had the referee called it traveling.
Thanks to Deadspin for sharing the info.
