NEW YORK (AP) James Harden slides sideways or steps backward, and the screaming starts.
Whether seated on the opposing bench or on a stool in a sports bar, somebody is insisting that Harden must have traveled between the time he finished dribbling and launched his shot from a different spot. Traveling will be an emphasis this season for officials, who are determined not to allow offensive players to gain an extra edge by taking an extra step.
Scoring stars like Harden already got an advantage once hand-checking on the perimeter was no longer legal, so they cant be given another one.
If we cant allow people to hand check, we cant allow them to travel because then theyre almost unguardable, vice president of referee operations Mark Wunderlich said.
That said, most times when Harden does his signature step-back, he doesnt travel.
It is legal, except for the fact that he gets a third step in every now and then when his rhythm is just off, which shows you the highlight of how difficult it is, said Monty McCutchen, the NBAs head of referee development and training.
Thats why referees are working harder to get it right.
Critics of the NBA and even some fans have long sneered that the league doesnt call traveling. McCutchen said data showed officials were missing about two per game, but the way the game is played today can make those misses more penal for the defense.
Players are bigger, faster and more skilled, and even big men who would have been centers in a previous generation are now do-everything forwards like 6-foot-11 MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo. He already gets far enough with the two steps that are legal, forget when allowed a third.
McCutchen compared the difference with Tiny Archibald, a 6-1 guard who played in the 1970s and 80s.
He covered 10 feet with his two steps, McCutchen said. How far is Giannis covering? The game has changed.
So officials have begun to change with it, altering the way they were taught to officiate when McCutchen and Wunderlich were on the floor. Before, referees were trained to look first at the defensive player. Now they have reversed their sequencing, looking first at the offensive players feet to make certain a legal pivot foot has been established and not changed.
And the league added new language in the rule book to define the gather, to clarify how many steps a player can take after receiving the ball or completing his dribble.
At the referees preseason meetings and training camp last week, McCutchen said officials studied replays of three travels each time they returned from a break, and had a dedicated 45-minute session on traveling.
An educational video was sent to teams , and the referees visited the coaches preseason meetings, where they had a traveling station with two players on the floor so they could do demonstrations for the coaches.
And Houston coach Mike DAntoni said the league stressed that Hardens step-back jumper is legal.
