LaMelo Ball Got Away With What Appears To Be One Of The Most Egregious Travels In Basketball History
Issac Baldizon. Getty Images.Of all the teams making their season debut tonight, I was most excited to see the new look Wolves. The LaMelo trade was one of the crazier transactions of the offseason, the early signs of the new LaMelo/Ant duo looked to be electric, and we were blessed with a great matchup against the new look Giannis Heat. Elite offense against elite defense, it doesn't get much better than that.
For the Wolves, this entire experiment is going to be fascinating. Their entire future is banking on LaMelo being the missing piece and someone who will not only thrive next to Anthony Edwards, but also raise both the floor and the ceiling of the entire team. LaMelo is that caliber of offensive engine, so how it all looks and works over the course of 82 games is giong to be must watch TV no matter how it shakes out. Either it works and it's awesome, or it flops and it's a disaster. For Wolves fans' sake I hope it works, because the potential is certainly there.
Part of what makes LaMelo so fun is he's actively looking to do ridiculous shit on the court at all times. The freedom and creativity he plays with offensively is what makes him so fun to watch. Whether that's insane stepbacks, incredible passing, ridiculous floaters, deep 3pt range, at any given moment when he's on the floor there's a good chance LaMelo is going to do some cool shit.
It also might help if ya know, he's allowed to do whatever he wants
Look, I know how these things work. To our eyes and our gut, that's a travel. I feel like as long as I have been alive and watching the sport of basketball, that has been a travel. You know it, I know it, we all know it. I'm not someone who hates the new era style. I appreciate the James Harden stepback or the Steph Curry side step reload. I like fun. But everyone has a breaking point and I'm afraid this is mine. At some point, enough is enough and something should be a travel. Now I'm also willing to acknowledge that by the specific letter of the law and blah blah blah it might not "technically" be a travel based on how the rules are written or whatever, but I'm sorry. That's a travel. I know the season is young for everyone, but that's something you can't miss, and if that IS actually legal, then that language needs to be changed immediately. I'm sure someone will say something about gather steps and when you start counting and all that stuff, but in your heart, you know that's a travel.
At the same time, I'm sure the refs know LaMelo does cool shit too, so I also don't hate them staying out of the way and letting him try to do something cool, even though it's a blatant travel. But then I remember NBA refs are the literal worse, and this just shows you why. We saw the same thing with an SGA travel no call last night. Of course Adam Silver doesn't give a shit, he'll never address the elephant in the room when it comes to his league. Instead, the clips go viral, people are talking about his product, he wins.
In terms of LaMelo's debut, he and the Wolves were awesome. They went into South Beach and beat the shit out of Giannis and the Heat by 25. Not exactly great for MIA that they traded for Giannis just to barely get over 100 points and be -11 in his minutes. The shooting concerns? So far they look real (8-33 from deep). Meanwhile, Anthony Edwards went nuts and LaMelo did LaMelo shit and the Wolves look even better than advertised. In terms of their first test, I'd say they passed with flying colors
