james harden 4 step travel

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NBA ref explains why the James Harden step-back jumper isn't traveling

The James Harden Step Back doesn't always get called a travel by NBA referees. Zach Zarba, a 15-year NBA referee, is here to weigh in on whether or not the move is a travel.

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James Harden’s Transcendent Step-Back

By Thomas Beller

James Harden sent a shiver through the N.B.A. a few weeks ago. He lead his team, the Houston Rockets, back from a twenty-point deficit to beat the Golden State Warriors, the defending champions, on their home court. He did this by hitting a three-point shot with seconds left to send the game into overtime. And then, in overtime, with two of the league’s best defenders, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green, floating in the air on either side of him, with their outstretched hands leaving a seam no bigger than the width of the ball, Harden hit a three-pointer to win it. He scored forty-four points in the game, with ten rebounds and fifteen assists. It was the sixth straight win since Harden’s co-star, Chris Paul, went down with a hamstring injury, a span in which Harden had been averaging forty-two points per game. It turns out to have been a prelude to his playing in the subsequent weeks, which has continued to be dazzling, up to and including his sixty-one points in a victory over the Knicks, at Madison Square Garden, on Wednesday night.

There have been many strange milestones and records during this stretch, which may one day come to seem something like Joe DiMaggio’s fifty-six-game hitting streak. (Though it’s hard to imagine a nation turning its troubled eyes to Harden.) One stat I enjoy pondering is that only one player has ever averaged more than Harden’s current January average of 45.3: Wilt Chamberlain, who did it five times .

But these game-winning shots and gaudy statistics, scintillating as they are, only hint at the pleasures of watching Harden play. His very movements are strange and unusual, even obscene. His game can seem—in some visceral way, having to do with his body language, his beard, the way he deploys his arms and legs with such litigious ingenuity that players have taken to guarding him with their hands held up in the air, as though someone just shouted “This is a stickup!”—profane.

A friend and former high-school teammate of mine, John Merz, who belongs to what is surely a small club of former basketball junkies who are now reverends, said, of Harden, “His step-back is driving me crazy. This lunging backward for the three-point line is becoming carnivalesque. It has completely changed the balance between the inside and outside dialectic of basketball. Those two things were always in delicate relation, but now it’s gone. The game of basketball was meant to be played moving toward the basket.”

Ronnie Nunn, a former director of N.B.A. officials, has emerged as a kind of defender of Harden’s step-back, which many people see as a travel. It is a travel, sometimes, Nunn told me, when he does “a double step-back.” But, most of the time, Harden’s carefully calibrated move is legal. “Calling travel is about a dance,” Nunn said. “Once you understand the rhythm of it, you can determine whether it’s legal or not. It’s really not about counting steps anymore once you see it. Just know the rhythm.” Harden’s rhythm, as Nunn has described it, is 0-1-2: “A waltz.” I always thought that the rhythm of the step-back was a kind of salsa. I showed videos of Harden’s step-back to Laura Stein, of the Dancing Grounds dance school in New Orleans. She thought that it resembled hip-hop footwork, with its wide step and change of direction, “like a top-rock in breakdancing.”

Harden didn’t invent the step-back, and, at this point, it seems that nearly every N.B.A. player has a version of it, including centers likes Joel Embiid. If you watch Kristaps Porziņģis’s draft workout video from 2015, you will see, amid the rapid succession of jump shots and dunks, the seven-foot-three-inch Latvian taking two giant, elongated step-backs. Yet Harden has made it his own, crystallized its impact on the game. Everywhere you go, you will see players practicing the step-back move. And it’s always so unique; everyone has their own version. Playing pickup basketball last summer at Pier 2 in Brooklyn, I had to laugh at the flamboyant theatricality of this one kid’s step-back. It was so over the top. The self-congratulating way he cocked his head at the end was part of the Harden influence, too. And, to the kid’s credit, it worked. He kept leaping dramatically back. The ball kept going in. I see some version of this on every playground and at every gym. I practice it, ridiculously, myself.

Harden’s step-back has entered new territory this season. “He took 0.9 step-back threes per game in 2016–17 and 2.4 last season,” according to Sports Illustrated . This season, he is taking more than six every game. Harden has changed the way the game is played in ways that remind me of Michael Jordan and Allen Iverson. Jordan’s game fetishized his air time. The poster-worthy dunk from the foul line became the fantasy object of players the world over. Iverson made a fetish of the crossover. He managed to take the aesthetic of hip-hop and translate it into basketball. Breaking your opponents’ ankles became basketball’s ecstatic accomplishment under Iverson’s reign.

A kind of changing of the guard occurred between Jordan and Iverson, in the spring of 1997—at the start of Iverson’s career and near the end of Jordan’s. It happened in one play. Iverson is guarded by Jordan at the top of the key. In the video , you can hear Phil Jackson’s voice, nearly drunk with confidence after his first run of championships, calling out to Jordan to pick up Iverson. There is something about his tone of voice that suggests the power at his disposal, in Jordan.

Iverson crosses once, to his left, then brings it back. Then he does it again, this time with more force. Jordan lunges, misses. (I feel like I am telling a story from Greek mythology.) The great Jordan was now off balance, out of position, and this feisty and very quick newcomer was alone with the ball at the top of the key. But, as Iverson would later remark, such was Jordan’s skill that he recovered in time to leap toward the ball and nearly block Iverson’s shot. But he didn’t. The ball leaves Iverson’s hands and swishes through the net. There is a nearly Sistine Chapel–like frisson to the moment, two fingertips just grazing each other.

Harden has taken Iverson’s template and embellished it. Most of the copious baskets Harden has been making this month are unassisted. One man on an island, creating his own shot, as Iverson did against Jordan. And, like Iverson, there is a lot of dribbling. The feeling is of a player dancing with himself. Harden likes to lower his body, with one leg forward and one behind, and dribble the ball rapidly back and forth, instilling terror. Then he lunges and either continues to the basket, to score or get fouled (or both), or steps back. Once he has created his space, he pauses. The beard seems to jut forth a bit, taunting. It happens in a split second, but it is an unmistakable effect of the over-all move. That one little hesitation has a practical element—it is Harden gathering balance before rising to shoot—but, psychologically, it is devastating. One can’t help but wonder if this is why he so often draws fouls on these long-range bombs—the defender throwing himself at Harden with kamikaze conviction, anything to prevent another highlight-reel step-back from swishing through the net. (An extreme version of Harden’s taunt, to the point where you can’t miss it, was one of the most celebrated plays of last season .)

That Harden’s game is an evolution of Iverson’s came into focus a couple of years ago, when I was watching a video of Iverson highlights and, for the first time, Iverson’s game seemed antique. At first, I thought that it was because of all the long twos that Iverson took. Long two-point shots are now the equivalent of drinking beer after a game and thinking that it hydrates you. Analytics have revealed that the greatest efficiencies are to be found in three-point shots, foul shots, and shots at the rim. But my response was more visceral than that—something about Iverson’s game appeared dated. It had always seemed timeless.

I finally realized that the famous Iverson crossover—so fluid, stylish, and fierce, the apotheosis of street ball’s swagger at the N.B.A. level—now felt incomplete. Iverson would cross and then either rose for the shot or darted toward the rim. Something was missing. And then I realized what was missing was the sudden launching away from the rim, which is the effect of the step-back.

We all know that athletes operating at the highest levels need to summon nearly sociopathic levels of confidence. After Harden hit that game-winning shot against the Warriors, he falls down, and then, like a Russian Cossack dancer, he pushes himself up into a squat position and, even before he starts standing up, enunciates a string of curse words directed at Draymond Green that emanate from within the cave of his beard. Green, who is charming in his own way, had surely said and done much to earn the retort. And then, moments later, Harden, surrounded by his exultant teammates, waves a single finger at them, scolding them, reminding them that there is still a second and change on the clock. When the Warriors’ final shot bounces off the rim and the win is sealed, he is mobbed again and flashes two fingers. It took me a moment to realize that he was referring to the M.V.P. award, which he won last year. He was saying that he was going to win it two years in a row.

In spite of Harden’s heroics, the game’s most memorable play, which I have returned to many times, took place with exactly three minutes and forty-five seconds to go in the third quarter. The Warriors are still leading by eleven points. Harden brings the ball across half-court, moves hastily to the three-point line, and seems to consider taking a three-point shot. He is being guarded by Kevin Durant and—you can almost see the thought bloom—has a better idea. He hands the ball to Gerald Green, who is being guarded by Stephen Curry . Green immediately hands the ball back to Harden and sets a pick on Durant.

Curry, a two-time M.V.P., switches on Harden, the reigning M.V.P., while Green jogs away toward the opposite side of the court. Durant, also a former M.V.P.—these guys are really good at basketball!—opens his defensive stance so he has a view of both Green, who is his responsibility, and the ball. But then Durant stops moving and looks directly at the suddenly isolated pair of players, Curry and Harden, with concern. Curry flicks his hand toward Durant in a way that suggests that he needs no help. “Go guard your man” is the message. There is something touching in Durant’s reluctance to leave the scene altogether. His friend and teammate Curry is now on an island with Harden. It’s like seeing your friend in need while having to take care of yourself. What to do?

Durant, after a moment of worry, moves toward Green, leaving Curry to his fate. Durant’s face become stony, abstract, and he isn’t looking at Green or at the ball; it’s almost like he is trying to put the decision he just made out of his mind. Then Harden, dribbling from his left hand to right, briefly loses the ball. An unforced error. He has to take a few steps away from the basket to gather it. Curry gets right up on him, pressing his advantage. The sun comes out for Durant, unfreezes him. Now he is engaged, watching the play, calling out encouragement to his teammate. Maybe it won’t end badly.

But it does for Curry. Harden regains control, dribbles between his legs, lunges forward with two hard dribbles, and then does his trick, which is to stop very suddenly and push off in the opposite direction. The third dribble is essentially a crossover, except, instead of moving the ball from one side of the body to the other, like Iverson, Harden moves it forward to backward. To accelerate faster than another player is an obvious advantage, but Harden has shown us the other side of this equation. He is a genius at deceleration. The move sends Curry reeling.

Harden pulls up for a short-range shot that goes in. It wasn’t nearly as spectacular as his later heroics in the game, but the point in the play where he lost the ball contained a delicious moment: his right hand reaches to dribble the ball, but, instead of meeting a ball, the hand only finds air. It flutters with a rapid hummingbird motion that was, I felt, like getting a glimpse into the inside of a watch, seeing the many cylinders and counterweights spinning madly in tension with each other. One senses, in this moment of disequilibrium, the remarkable balance within Harden and everything he does on a basketball court.

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By Louisa Thomas

By Charles Bethea

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NBA: James Harden's latest move that looks like a travel is legal

On Tuesday, Houston Rockets guard James Harden unleashed his latest flashy NBA move that clearly looks like a travel but wasn’t called one.

The reigning league MVP used a nifty pick-up-his dribble, move-the-ball-behind-his-back, take-two-steps-then-shoot move in an exhibition game against the Shanghai Sharks .

Is this a travel?

He hit his ninth 3-pointer of the game with the move and unleashed a debate over whether, in fact he did travel.

Do you think this move by Harden is a travel? pic.twitter.com/g1yZ7ooUEk — Ballislife.com (@Ballislife) October 10, 2018

if this isnt a travel he’s winning MVP again pic.twitter.com/hWBfSrHpgh — Rob Perez (@World_Wide_Wob) October 10, 2018

NBA says it’s legal

NBA officials addressed the situation Wednesday, citing his “lateral 1-2 step” from his pivot foot as justification for why it was legal.

The offensive player gathers the ball, and flips it from his left hand to right behind his back, with his right foot as his pivot foot. He then is allowed 2 steps, which he takes as a lateral 1-2 step. It’s a legal play. https://t.co/Qp1E558G18 — NBA Referees (@OfficialNBARefs) October 10, 2018

The NBA released a similar message.

This is a legal play. Although James puts the ball behind his back, he only takes two steps after the gather of the ball and therefore it is NOT a travel. https://t.co/i1hU3b4zuQ — NBA Official (@NBAOfficial) October 10, 2018

Rule book doesn’t provide much clarity

While the NBA is getting out ahead of this before the season, a look at the rules doesn’t provide a definitive answer.

In fact, traveling rules — if you haven’t looked them up — don’t provide a lot of clarity in general, which explains why the violation is such a consistent source of debate in the sport.

The NBA addresses traveling here and here in two equally complex but not identical explanations of the rule on its web site.

This portion of the “misunderstood rules” section of the league’s site appears to address Harden’s situation.

When ending his dribble a player may use a two count rhythm in coming to a stop, passing or shooting.

One could argue that Section II of the rulebook addressing dribbling would prohibit Harden’s move.

A player shall not run with the ball without dribbling it.

Of course a strict interpretation of that rule would warrant traveling on almost every play in basketball.

It’s a judgment call

Which brings us to the rub of why traveling is such a difficult call. As much as somebody wants to argue that they know the hard-and-fast rules on traveling and can identify the violation with absolute certainty every time, it’s not that clear cut.

Traveling is in large part a judgment call. And the NBA has judged that what Harden did on Tuesday was not a travel.

Did they get it right?

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Photo by Tim Warner/Getty Images

James Harden Responds to Kid's Question About His Step-Back: 'How's It Traveling?'

• Author: Khadrice Rollins

James Harden has heard your complaint about how he travels when he goes for his patented step-back, and he has one question for those who think his signature move is against the rules: How?

On Friday, at an event for Adidas and James Harden ProCamp , an inquisitive young child asked the 2018 MVP a question he knew he wouldn't like.

"What makes you do that traveling step-back?" the child asked Harden.

"Do they call traveling with it?" Harden quickly quipped before proceeding to breakdown even more about why he doesn't travel with his move.

"In the NBA especially, the highest level of basketball, you got to find ways to get better every single year. You got to find ways to get an advantage every single year," Harden said. "And that's what I'm doing. And it's not traveling. This year I'm going to come up with something more creative, and it's going to look like traveling but it's not."

See, Harden, this would sound all well and good if it wasn't for the fact that the last move you created was the step-back step-back and that was 1000 percent a travel .

However, that doesn't mean I don't want to see him attempt a step-back step-back step-back next season.

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Nba refs admit they missed james harden’s shuffle-step travel.

• Dane Delgado ,
• Dane Delgado

HOUSTON, TX - MAY 24: James Harden #13 of the Houston Rockets prior to Game Five of the Western Conference Finals of the 2018 NBA Playoffs between the Houston Rockets and the Golden State Warriors at Toyota Center on May 24, 2018 in Houston, Texas. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)

Getty Images

Did James Harden travel on Monday night? Obviously.

But was Harden called for a travel by officials? No. At least, not at first.

Video of Harden’s ridiculous shuffle was circulated on social media after the Houston Rockets beat the Utah Jazz, 102-97. Harden was asked about the move by media, and said that he wasn’t going to tell on himself , which is fair enough.

On Tuesday the official NBA referee Twitter page decided to comment on the play at hand, admitting that they had made a mistake and had missed a travel.

Via Twitter:

The offensive player gathers the ball while on his right foot. He then takes a step with his left foot (step 1) into a hop step, landing first with his right foot (step 2) and then illegally with his left (step 3). We missed this one - it is a traveling violation. https://t.co/BqMAoZHgIu — NBA Referees (@OfficialNBARefs) December 18, 2018

Having a Twitter account hasn’t always worked out for the NBRA. Their explanations of what many would consider to be violations have often stood in the face of common sense. To that end, they’ve sometimes been mocked on social media, which is against their goal of having the social channel in the first place. But this play with Harden was a particular sore subject with fans around the league, and it was right of them in to make a comment.

At least they got it right.

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The 6 funniest things about James Harden’s double-step-back travel that wasn’t called

Harden stepped back and then uhh did it again. That’s not allowed.

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Share All sharing options for: The 6 funniest things about James Harden’s double-step-back travel that wasn’t called

Two things can be true about James Harden : He’s one of the best offensive players in NBA history, AND he gets away with a disproportionate amount of egregious travels.

Maybe it’s his left-handedness that catches referees off guard, or maybe the moves happen so quick in real time that it’s tough to blow the whistle.

Either way, look at this hot garbage double-step-back three:

What should we call this James Harden move? @ESPNNBA pic.twitter.com/C5cog9IhVB — SB Nation (@SBNation) December 18, 2018

This ... is a travel. Instead, Ricky Rubio was called for a foul in what was then a three-point game with less than a minute to go. (The Jazz lost by 5.)

I don’t even know what else to say. He took so many steps back he looked like someone trying to impersonate James Harden . And it almost looked fluent? Like, Harden maybe practices the step-step back-back knowing he won’t get called for a walk.

For those who need it broken down

Here’s step-back 1:

And here’s step-back 2:

Yep. That’s a travel. A real bad one. And a lotta people had stuff to say about it.

A few of the best moments from this:

• Candace Parker singing the “Running Man” song throughout the entirety of Harden’s step-backs.

If you listen back to the original video, Parker starts singing on the second playback.

THIS IS NOT NEW!

CP3 has called out the running man Harden move before.

"James Harden be doing the Running Man, and that's not a travel?" - @Candace_Parker #KGArea21 pic.twitter.com/ZgozL6am6s — KG's Area 21 (@KGArea21) April 25, 2018

2. James Harden refusing to snitch on himself

James Harden: “What do you want me to say? Tell on myself?” https://t.co/XSdE77kijh — Tim MacMahon (@espn_macmahon) December 18, 2018

The Stepback King has no reason to tell the teacher he forgot to assign homework.

3. Ricky Rubio giving the no-answer, answer

Ricky Rubio on the Harden stepback++: Rubio: "You watch the play?" Me: "Yeah." Rubio: "What do you think?" Me: "I personally thought it was a travel." Rubio: "I'm not going to answer, but I think 100 percent of the people know the answer." — Andy Larsen (@andyblarsen) December 18, 2018

The poor guy never learned how to defend that move.

4. Rudy Gobert in awe of the new move he learned

Rudy Gobert on the Harden step-back-into-the-step-back 3: "I didn't see it live, I saw the video. That's a new move." — Andy Larsen (@andyblarsen) December 18, 2018

Nobody wanted to eat a fine after this one, huh.

5. Isaiah Thomas discovering how he can make his comeback

Come on cuz lol... There letting that happen now? Lol I’m really bout to be unguardable https://t.co/hMM7tYJaKT — Isaiah Thomas (@isaiahthomas) December 18, 2018

This is going to become the left-handed point guard move, isn’t it?

6. Andre Iguodala alerting the authorities on Twitter

@OfficialNBARefs — Danielson... (@andre) December 18, 2018

Hahaha the Warriors are absolutely done with this guy.

Did you enjoy this blog? See you here again, same time next travel.

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James Harden is so used to traveling that he can't even admit this blatant travel was a travel

While many star NBA players turned getting away with traveling into an art form over the years, few have done it with the sheer frequency and efficiency of James Harden. The man is the master of the moonwalk, the colossus of carry, the sultan of steps, the duke of double dribble. Ok, you get it. The guy travels, a lot. And yes, so do a lot of NBA players, but none as blatantly as Harden. His latest submission into the traveling WALK of fame (boom, roasted) came on Monday night against the Utah Jazz. Behold, the double-step-back-three-to-get-a-cheap-foul move:

That's right, the refs called a foul on Ricky Rubio on this play. A foul! Harden is difficult enough to guard when he is playing within the rules let alone when he's doing the elusive double step back. It's so blatant at this point that it seems reckless on Harden's part, but he's gotten so used to it that he won't even admit it when it's this obvious.

“What do you want me to say? Tell on myself?” Harden said to ESPN.

At least he didn't deny it completely. Rubio had a slightly different take:

Harden strolled his way to another huge night, scoring 47 points and adding five boards, five steals, six assists and two gigantic steps for mankind.

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