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Dirk Nowitzki chimes in on LaMelo Ball traveling controversy
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- Dirk Nowitzki chimes in on LaMelo Ball traveling controversy
After a long offseason, the 2026/2027 NBA season is back in full swing and it didn't take long for controversy about how the game is refereed to become a public discussion among fans. Dirk Nowitzki recently chimed in to show how he used to do it back in the day.
Traveling has been an issue for the league for a while as each generation of fans notices that the refs get a little more lax in governing what moves are legal to do when the ball is in an offensive player's possession. But LaMelo Ball of the Minnesota Timberwolves may have taken the cake when he pulled of an egregious move that had social media up in arms.
The referees did not call a violation despite watching Ball take an extra step or five, leading to an online discussion that had current players like Draymond Green defending the move, saying the extra steps while gathering the ball were clean.
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But retired NBA Hall of Famer Dirk Nowitzki is from a different school, and he took the league to task for the change in how they call the game these days.
LaMelo Ball has sparked debate over how NBA referees call traveling.David Berding / Getty Images
Did LaMelo travel?
Besides the argument over who is better, Michael Jordan or LeBron James, the one issue that divides NBA fans along generational lines more than any other issue is the way traveling is called, or not called, in the modern NBA.
The 'gather step' that seemingly allows players to take an extra step or two after they pick up their dribble is one aspect of the disagreement. The other is the idea of the live dribble, where the offensive player can take infinite steps without dribbling, as long as the ball is still 'floating' in his hand.
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This play from Giannis Antetokounmpo is probably the best illustration of this rule.
For anyone who played or watched basketball before, say, 2015, this is an egregious violation, but since the ball is 'floating' in Giannis' hand (how is it floating if it's literally in his hand?), it is clean, so modern refs won't call it, and modern NBA fans will defend it .
With the LaMelo Ball play, some were arguing that since the ball was floating in his hand, the seven steps he took after he stopped dribbling were legal. And they kept up with that nonsense narrative until the official NBA Referee account came out and said that it was a travel.
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¨For everyone asking, 'how is this legal?' It's not! He gathers with his right foot, not the floor, and would be permitted two steps by rule (left-right). He takes four steps after gathering the ball and travels," the account tweeted .
Dirk Nowitzki demonstrates old school footwork
The NBA on Prime crew jumped into the debate last week after getting an audience question about the LaMelo Ball play, so Dirk Nowitzki took to the makeshift basketball court in the Amazon studio to demonstrate what proper footwork looks like.
During his time in the league, Nowitzki was famous for his deadly, triple-threat game in the mid-range. That mid-range efficiency was dictated by his superior footwork. Nowitzki was never the fastest or most athletic player on the court, but he consistently got his shot off by backing down his defender and pivoting away to create space.
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He showed the young'uns how it's done.
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¨I actually don't understand the (new) rule,¨ Nowitzki hilariously admitted before his demonstration, where he showed what 21 seasons in the NBA does to a nearly 50-year old's knees. ¨We used to lower the shoulder, bump him (the defender), then step back. That's it. So there was no bump, step-step, there was none of that. There was a bump back, one-two and a shot¨
He, of course, nailed the shot because he is Dirk Nowitzki. He then traced the lineage of the change back to one player.
¨I think it really started (to change) with James (Harden) in Houston when he started to gather on the side of the ball, and then he started to go one-two, three or four steps, and I mean it's gotten out of control,¨Nowitzki said. ¨Can we go back to the bump, step back, buckets?¨he asked before swishing another jumper.
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Probably not. The game has evolved, and taking more than two steps after you've finished dribbling is normalized. Still, if we're playing basketball outside, far away from an NBA court with referees, I'm still calling travel every time.
Ball up top.
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This story was originally published by Lindy's Sports on Oct 28, 2026, where it first appeared in the NBA section. Add Lindy's Sports as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
