LeBron James (Credits: USA Today Sports)

LeBron James has been under the spotlight for many criticisms, time and again. While one-half of the NBA audience is still stuck with the James-Michael Jordan comparison, the other half is busy analyzing the minute gameplay and how lenient the referees have become. While the NBA has always acquired a gray area regarding travel violations taking an extra step and then hopping on the same foot, it has often wrapped James in a questionable situation.

A vigilant critique of James floated a video on X, formerly Twitter, calling out James’ fraudulent moves. Apparently the account holder claims that King James has received special favors from refunds since he was not called out for travel violations, although he took a couple of extra steps every time. Not only that, the hop on the same established pivot foot is also placed under question.

The handle @lefraud_exposed wrote, “I never lied when I said he was the biggest fraud. I never lied when I said NBA catered to him, and when David Stern got caught, he was forced to leave the NBA.” While the David Stern legacy of controversies is a story for some other time, James’ frequent fouls and fraudulent hot travels might need some traction from the referees.

Apparently, this is not the first time for LeBron James, as he has been called out for such an act on a lot of occasions. It’s an open secret that the face of the Lakers is one of the pioneers for exhibiting such a move on the hardwood and getting away with it at the same time, as per Nate Robinson. However, is there any special treatment for the star forward of the Lakers, or is there a gray area for all the players?

What are the rules regarding travel violations in the NBA?

Traveling is a penalty when an offensive player in possession of the ball either takes an extra step or carries out an illegal movement with the pivot foot. As defined by the NBA, in a game against the Miami Heat, James ends his dribble and gathers the ball on his right foot. LBJ then jumps off and lands on the same pivot foot. Now the rule says that the established pivot foot cannot move from that position. However, irrespective of the rule, many players carry out the trick and even get away with it.

As per Phil Jackson, the NBA has an extensive rulebook when it comes to traveling calls. Jackson decoded how most observers decipher travel based on intuition. However, the referees are trained to reach a call by analyzing the moves layer by layer. Since it requires a deep analysis, sometimes even the on-court officials seem to neglect that.

James’s famous ‘crab-dribble’ in 2009 was an act that started a chain reaction for his criticism. While ‘the chosen one’ continues to shuffle his feet on the catch and gets away with lifting that pivot foot before dribbling, the technical definition of the foul still stands in the gray area.