Photo by Glenn James/NBAE via Getty Images
NBA emphasis on traveling violations was on full display last night in the Warriors and Mavericks game
Traveling violations not being enforced in the NBA are as old as the NBA itself. Maybe even older than that. I can imagine players in the 1930s setting up for their underhand set shots from 10 feet out, shuffling their feet, and traveling while the referees look the other way.
Year after year, we have heard from the NBA that traveling and palming violations would be an emphasis for referees, and by week two of the season, James Harden is taking four steps to set up his step-back jumper. So, when it was reported again at the start of the 2022-23 season, most NBA fans and people around the NBA didn’t give it a second thought.
A month and a half into the season, the NBA is, at least to the naked eye, calling traveling and palming violations a lot more frequently. I say to the naked eye because it is almost impossible to find turnovers broken down by traveling calls. Still, if you watch any NBA game, especially Tuesday night’s Dallas Mavericks and Golden State Warriors game, you cannot help but notice the number of traveling calls.
The Warriors were one of the more vocal teams regarding referees being more consistent on palming calls earlier in the year. In a November 2nd game at the beginning of the season, Jordan Poole was called for three palming violations. Something unheard of in previous seasons.
It was such an anomaly that Draymond Green and Steve Kerr voiced their opinion on the subject at the time.
Green’s statement that if you are going to make palming calls, you need to watch every guard in the league brings us back to Tuesday’s game. Yes, palming and traveling are not the same, but they are in the same category. Ball handlers use both to gain an advantage against a defense, and the NBA is watching both violations a lot closer.
For instance, there were four traveling calls in the third quarter alone—two against Luka Doncic, one against JaMychal Green, and one against Steph Curry. At one point, Doncic and Curry got called for back-to-back travel calls in two consecutive plays. You sometimes could go four games in a row without four total travel calls in the entire game.
Even with all the traveling calls, the game became one of the year’s best. The Warriors had 20 seconds to tie the game or take the lead with a three-pointer. Curry decided to go for the win and tried to free himself from Maxi Kleber. But there was one problem, the referee blew the whistle and called yet another travel on Curry as they deemed he lifted his left pivot foot before he got the attempt off. He clearly did and it was the right call.
The Warriors had one more chance at the end of the game, but a Klay Thompson three-pointer clanked off the rim. After the game, Curry and Coach Kerr gave their opinions on the Curry travel call.
“Calls are calls. Some go your way, some don’t,” Kerr said. “I guess the NBA is making an emphasis on plays like that. I don’t know if it was a travel or not, I haven’t seen it, but it’s gonna be really interesting to see – like if we’re gonna call that now, we gotta call it all the time, because it happens 30 times a game, guys change pivot feet. So I’m really happy the officials are gonna emphasize it, but you gotta be consistent with it.”
In Curry’s opinion, it was not the right call. But who is he to say?
Funny that Coach Kerr brought up consistency. Yes, he does have a point. Even with more emphasis on traveling and carrying this year, the NBA still hasn’t been consistent enough. This is funny because the Warriors benefited from a non-traveling call in their 116-113 win over the Kings on November 7th. The NBA said the next day it should have been called in the Warrior’s win over the Kings. With 16 seconds left in a very close game, Curry wasn’t called for a travel, and believe it or not, that wasn’t the worse non-call of the game.
Again Kerr and the Warriors are right. The NBA has done a better job of calling traveling and palming violations but does need to make sure these calls are made in every game because traveling happens in every single game. Still, the Warriors have to remember the NBA being more consistent may come back to bite them in the end, just like it did Tuesday night. At least we can always count on the Warriors complaining. They are very consistent that way.
