LeBron James and the ‘crab dribble’ controversy
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I’ve played a lot of basketball in my day, but I’d never heard of the ‘crab dribble’ until LeBron James was called for traveling last night in Cleveland’s embarrassing 80-77 loss to the Washington Wizards, who have the worst record in the Eastern Conference.
The King says he took a crab dribble before splitting two defenders when making a move down the left side of the lane late in the game. It took awhile, but I finally tracked down a good video on YouTube and it has a great replay. LeBron took a quick dribble to set up his defender, but when he stepped through he definitely took an extra step. If LeBron would have made a two-footed jump stop before elevating toward the rim, it probably would have been legal (ala Shaquille O’Neal).
The crab dribble explanation by the Chosen One has also provided some good quips from Wizards players.
