Bradley Beal travelled last night. That's a stone cold fact, regardless of the NBA officials' bizarre explanation.
As seen in the footage embedded below, Beal took a casual stroll through the paint, with the ball in his hands, during the fourth quarter of Monday night's loss to the Detroit Pistons. Meanwhile, the refs swallowed their whistles.
Even Beal knew he got away with an egregious maneuver.
Despite Beal's blatant travel, the official NBA refs twitter account had the audacity to tweet out that very video today along with an explanation as to why THIS IS LEGAL.
That statement reads:
"The offensive player gathers with his right foot on the ground. He then takes two legal steps, before losing control of the ball. After regaining possession, a player is allowed to regain his pivot foot and pass or shoot prior to that foot returning to the ground. This is legal."
In other words, players are now allowed to take as many steps as they want so long as they bobble the ball in between their second and third steps. Got it?
If you're not sold on the NBA's reasoning you're not alone. Check out some of the instant reactions below.
https://twitter.com/_/status/1095350359256588289
https://twitter.com/_/status/1095350532368027649
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https://twitter.com/_/status/1095354226094624773