LeBron James somehow got away with what may have been the most obvious travel in NBA history on Wednesday night, and even he seemed like he was in disbelief after he watched the replay.
Following the Los Angeles Lakers’ 121-96 win over the Utah Jazz, LeBron admitted that he should have been called for a travel in the first quarter when he stopped his dribble and took more than three steps before putting the ball back on the floor. He called it “probably one of the worst things I’ve ever done in my career.”
“I think at the same time, I was watching the underneath play, and KCP and Donovan got into it. KCP started to run, and Donovan bumped into him, he fell on the ground,” LeBron said, via ESPN’s Dave McMenamin. “I think I was ready to pass the ball, and my brain just kind of just, I had a malfunction. I really had a malfunction.”
LeBron said he didn’t even realize he had traveled until a coach showed him the replay at halftime. You can imagine what he must have thought when he watched the video:
A fan heckled James about the travel during the third quarter, and he could be heard on the TV broadcast responding, “That’s one of the worst things I’ve ever done in my life.” He also said after the game that he felt sympathy for the officials.
“I feel bad for the refs on that one because they’ll probably get a write-up on that or something,” LeBron said. “That was pretty bad.”
We have seen NBA refs miss traveling violations during crucial moments in big games, so fortunately LeBron’s was not one of those instances. You have to wonder if an official would have blown the whistle if it were any player other than King James.
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