LeBron Explains Crab Dribbles; DeShawn Still Doesn’t Like Him
It’s been a while since we linked to the D.C. Sports Bog, but today we had to because of the in-depth coverage of yesterday’s crazy Cavs/Wizards game that had a little bit of everything – the game came down to the very end, Mike Brown got himself ejected, DeShawn was talking trash from the bench, and there’s controversy brewing over the the walk call assessed to LeBron after his “crab dribble.”
The Sports Bog covers it all today:
But seriously, what is a crab dribble? LeBron was asked about his trademark jump stop, which has agonized so many Wiz fans for so many years.
“I mean, it’s a play that you don’t see in this league much but myself,” LeBron explained. “It’s one of those plays where you have your trademark play, and that’s one of my plays. You know, it kind of looks like a travel because it’s slow, and it’s kind of like high steps. But it’s a one-two, just as flowing fluent as any other one-two in this league. I got the wrong end of it, but I think they need to look at it again and need to understand that that’s not a travel.
“What happens is when you take a crab dribble and you hesitate, that is not one step, because you still basically have a live ball. And then when you go into your one-two that’s when the steps get counted. So if you look at the play, I take a crab dribble and find a crease and then I take my one-two. So it’s a perfectly legal play, something I’ve always done and always been successful with.”
Hmmmm. Wait, here comes another reporter? With another question about what LeBron saw on the last play.
“What did I see? I seen me going to the hole for a three-point play and I was called for a travel,” LeBron said.
“How frustrating was that?” the reporter asked.
“It’s frustrating, definitely frustrating,” LeBron said. “Me being the competitor I am, how can I sit here and say it’s not frustrating? You know, bad call, we all make mistakes, I make mistakes too and you move on. But it’s frustrating of course, you work as hard as you do to come back and you made a good move and then you’re called for a travel.”
Hmmmm. So it’s a done deal, I guess. Open and shut. Was not a travel.
Click HERE for more from the Wizards, including the latest in DeShawn’s “lifelong” feud with ‘Bron.
January 5th, 2009 at 2:42 pm
fiyaman says:
that was a travel bron need to suck it up and accept it.. he just looks like a bitch that cant accept when everything doesnt go his way
January 5th, 2009 at 2:49 pm
Sam I Am says:
Fool travels and cries like a girl man.
Only Crab Dribble he has, is on his forehead
January 5th, 2009 at 3:07 pm
dagwaller says:
I like Lebron (as a player/pitchman, never met him before), but after watching it, it was a travel.
Besides, he owes the Wizards for some of the BS that has gone on in those playoff games, anyway. Not like the Wizards are going to challenge them for the top 2 spots in the playoffs this year!
January 5th, 2009 at 3:11 pm
Chuck79 says:
Stop hating bron did not travel he pulled the same thing against the wiz in the playoffs for a game winning shot. Just a bad call. Go cavs
January 5th, 2009 at 3:13 pm
doug says:
Travel, the league makes so many excuses for this cat. Mike Brown talking all that mess, how can you argue something so obvious.
January 5th, 2009 at 3:23 pm
Edub says:
it’s about time they called it on him, he’s been defacing the game with that shite. He pulls that crap on almost every drive to the net, that’s why you’ll never be able to compare him to passed legends.
January 5th, 2009 at 3:23 pm
kdog says:
DEFINITELY a travel, and it was a travel in the playoffs last year as well. I think this year the refs have just started calling it. I’ve seen other players get called for taking a “crab dribble” and then two steps. Isn’t “crab dribble” just another name for a jump stop?
January 5th, 2009 at 3:32 pm
fallinup says:
Bron’s official response:
The ref’s are stupid.
January 5th, 2009 at 3:38 pm
Mamba says:
Depends on how picky the refs want to get,
Kobe has a slight carry in some of his dribble moves, back in the day Pat Ewing used to take damn near 6 steps when trouncing into the lane,
Its all subjective, the jump stop itself depending on how it is executed can look very shifty, if nothing else human error comes into play when wanting to make a call or not,
Haha as we all know it gets magnified when its one of the games stars, Im surprised they didnt just let it slide
January 5th, 2009 at 3:40 pm
rena the great says:
I was not understanding the whole “crybaby” thing before…I get it now. Man up.
January 5th, 2009 at 3:40 pm
Mister Sun says:
@ chuck79
you are so funny. the game winning shot in the playoffs was a definite travel. if you think otherwise, you dont know basketball…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EGiBXYJiTF8
so your logic is: they didn’t call it back then so it was a bad call because they did this time? your awesome…in a bad way
January 5th, 2009 at 3:43 pm
BROGDEN says:
he knows it’s a travel…anything more than 2 steps and the refs think they have the EASIEST call in the world…2 1/2 step, crab dribble, jump stop, whatever… when you think about, along with double dribbling, they ARE the easiest violations to call.
January 5th, 2009 at 3:47 pm
dapro says:
It was a travel, that was pretty clear
A jump stop itself is not a travel but a jump stop combined with a extra step is a travel
Whatever he chooses to call that move it’s still a travel
January 5th, 2009 at 3:48 pm
BK2LV says:
Im pretty sure Bron is confusing his “crab dribble” as a jump stop and im pretty sure after a jump stop u can not take a one two step… he told on himself the first step was during the hesitation (jumpstop) and the one two came after with out any dribbling ….. therfore 3 steps and a travel…. please nba dont let this pass… kids all over gonna be traveling sreaming about some wack ass crab dribble…
January 5th, 2009 at 3:53 pm
Dagomar says:
On that travel by Lebron in the playoffs: he was fouled no fewer than four times on the play. Oh, and it was in the dying seconds of a playoff game. The refs decided to swallow their whistles and it impacted both sides, not just the Wizards. The Wiz are the biggest crybabies in the league.
January 5th, 2009 at 3:57 pm
dagwaller says:
Dagomar, I just watched the replay again, and…yup, still a travel. Five steps! That’s a travel! Is your full name Dagomar James?!
January 5th, 2009 at 4:00 pm
Illmatic says:
I really don’t see what the big deal is. All of the superstars travel. MJ did it all day, but nobody ever called him for it because he’s MJ. Kobe gets his “superstar calls” too; it’s just part of the game.
Either way, you’re a fuckin moron if you think that’s the only reason he’s so successful. Dude is a beast, and he’s earned every bit of his elite status.
January 5th, 2009 at 4:16 pm
Mark says:
Travel or not, he’s criticizing the officials and should be fined. If he doesn’t, well, there’s pretty solid evidence of special treatment and they should return Mark Cuban’s ~2 million contributions back to his assets.
Your move, David Stern.
January 5th, 2009 at 4:24 pm
mules says:
That was definitely a travel and I’m all for refs making that call. Inconsistant officiating is undoubtedly the biggest problem with the pro game. Borderline “superstar calls” are one thing (like the MJ push-off on Byron Russell) but this one wasn’t even close. That being said, I hardly think Lebron is the worst offender. This dude must be stopped.
January 5th, 2009 at 4:31 pm
Illmatic says:
I have no problem with the call either. I DO have a problem with people acting like this is some new phenomenon, and Lebron is destroying the game of basketball.
For what it’s worth, you could say the same about MJ. He’s the reason why the game has moved away from team-based, fundamental basketball, to high-flying, individual superstars.
(Not saying MJ was a bad teammate, or that isn’t the gold-standard when it comes to role models)
January 5th, 2009 at 4:32 pm
GEE...AFRICA! says:
Now if we could only have Brendan Haywood quote LeBron in a whiny voice saying:
“…But it’s frustrating of course, you work as hard as you do to come back and you made a good move and then you’re called for a travel.”
My take is crab cakes, or crab dribble, anything with crabs can’t be to good! So a travel it is!
January 5th, 2009 at 4:38 pm
GEE...AFRICA! says:
Dime is their a video somewhere of this “Crab Dribble”?
So we readers can decide fo ourselves (the ones who haven’t really paid it any tention).
January 5th, 2009 at 4:39 pm
Yort says:
If the picture here is any indication of any part of the so called “Crab Dribble”, he’s actually committing a carry, as the ball is above his shoulder anyway!
January 5th, 2009 at 4:46 pm
fallinup says:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WVzxLAlTkzM
You’ll have to scroll to the final minute or so.
A walk is a walk, is a walk. You pick up your dribble, then give a little “hop”, then take two steps…it’s a travel. That ain’t no friggin “crab dribble”.
I had this move called the “snail step”. Where I would tackle the guy that had just blown past me and elbow him in the throat…but NOOOOOOOOOOOO….it’s a “technical foul”.
Stupid refs.
January 5th, 2009 at 4:53 pm
fallinup says:
I actually posted the other view of his infamous crab travel. Go to 1:20…it’s a better view in my opinion.
January 5th, 2009 at 4:57 pm
itsakademiks says:
son traveled but of course he gonna deny it to the end. and deshawn is a funny cat nigga stay talkin all that shit i just want one reporter to ask him him ONE question. Do you think you are better then bron? im all for trash talk but when one guy is clearly the superior player it kind of makes the other guy look foolish.
January 5th, 2009 at 4:59 pm
mules says:
@Yort
A carry has nothing to do with how high you dribble the ball, his hands not under the ball in the picture so it’s not a carry…this is a carry.
January 5th, 2009 at 5:15 pm
AY says:
“crab dribble is my trademark play”? I thought your trademark play is dunking the ball really hard. Lebron, we hardly know ye.
deshawn’s lifelong feud with lebron is similar in everyway as the nail’s lifelong feud with the hammer. why not have a lifelong feud with someone on the bench like yourself?
January 5th, 2009 at 5:19 pm
GEE...AFRICA! says:
fallinup I am crackin up at the “snail step”!
AY that was a wonderful comparison lol. You nailed it (wack pun intended).
The Traveling Crab is more like it!
January 5th, 2009 at 5:27 pm
Michorizo says:
CRAB WALK – After beating off, and you realise that you have no tissue near you to wipe up your cum, this is the walk you do to get to the bathroom
January 5th, 2009 at 6:30 pm
Aaron says:
Still the BEST player in the L, so who cares!
January 5th, 2009 at 6:31 pm
jeremy says:
bitch is still crying…somethings never change
January 5th, 2009 at 6:38 pm
added says:
@mules
actually, if a ball is above the shoulder it’s considered a carry…
and yep, that was a travel…and what the fuck is a ‘crab dribble’ anyway? a new term for hop step?
January 5th, 2009 at 7:23 pm
JCARR says:
Who cares they lost!
What about the infamous Portland 6-man play??? That is worth the argument!
January 6th, 2009 at 3:01 pm
eddy says:
ginobli does it all the time!!!!!!, and he never gets it called ion him they just say “oh its just the euro two step”…if they calling it on lebron call it on ginobli….
April 4th, 2009 at 3:49 am
lololol says:
What the hell was that supposed to be?
To me it looked like a hop-step but he didn’t land on both feet at the same time.
WTF is LeBron talking about?