Getty Washington Wizards guard Bradley Beal
During Monday’s action, Washington Wizards guard Bradley Beal made a play that left the jaws of NBA fans on the floor. On the surface, it seemed Beal had traveled so badly that it was almost impossible for the officials to miss it. But they didn’t make the call land the video went viral shortly after.
Beal was driving the lane and took multiple steps, fumbled the ball and then regained it to take additional steps, as you can see below from Complex Sports.
Cancel NBA refs. t.co/KybFya8cRh
After the game, Beal was able to laugh about the play and took to Twitter to joke about the fact that it was “clean” and a non-travel. It seemed pretty apparent he was joking of course, and it was easy to see why from the video.
NBA Officials Defend Decision to Not Call Travel
In an interesting turn of events, it seems the league actually backed up the decision by the referees in this game not to call the travel. The Official NBA Referees Twitter account explained how the play by Beal was legal, and the Wizards guard had a great reaction to that news.
For what it’s worth, this account is or the official league referees, so there’s not much arguing with the decision. Unless we’re just missing something and the officials are doing a bit of trolling of their own (unlikely), it seems there’s actual justification for why this was not a travel by Beal.
Regardless, it’s safe to say the bulk of NBA fans and even Beal probably still believe that he took a few extra steps on the play. With that said, it’s not like this is the first time we’ve seen a wild travel get away without the refs even coming close to making the call.
Bradley Beals’ Exceptional Play of Late
Beal has excelled all season, posting career-highs across the board for the most part. He’s averaging 25.1 points, 5.3 assists and 5.1 rebounds per game while shooting 47.3 percent from the field. He and the Wizards have played the bulk of the season without star teammate John Wall, and over the past months, it’s allowed him to thrive.
During six games in the month of February, Beal is averaging 28.2 points, 6.7 assists and 5.5 rebounds per game while shooting 50.8 percent. His numbers throughout all of January weren’t far off, with averages of 27.6 points, 6.1 assists and 5.6 rebounds. He shot 46.2 percent from the field and 39.1 percent from deep over that span.
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