NBA referees say LaMelo Ball traveled on his uncalled step-back three, and the first Last Two Minute reports flag a wrong travel call

Traveling has been the officiating talking point of the NBA’s first week, and on Thursday the people who make the calls weighed in. The league’s referees account said LaMelo Ball traveled on a step-back three that counted in Minnesota’s opening win at Miami, and hours later the league’s first Last Two Minute reports of 2026-27 found a traveling call in the final seconds of Pacers-Pelicans that should not have been made.

“It’s not!”: the referees on Ball’s step-back

Ball’s shot came in the first half of the Timberwolves’ 131-106 win over the Heat on Wednesday, Oct. 21, his first game for Minnesota. He hit a step-back three after shuffling his feet, no whistle came, and the clip spread quickly online, with viewers counting the steps. We covered the game itself in our Timberwolves-Heat recap.

On Thursday morning in the U.S. (about 5 p.m. in Cairo), the referees account answered directly. “For everyone asking, ‘how is this legal?’ It’s not!” the post said. Ball gathered the ball with his right foot on the floor, which allowed him two more steps by rule, left and then right. Instead, the referees said, “He takes four steps after gathering the ball and travels.”

For everyone asking, “how is this legal?” It’s not! He gathers with his right foot on the floor and would be permitted two steps by rule (left-right). He takes four steps after gathering the ball and travels. https://t.co/dSitGeRNSD

— NBA Referees (@OfficialNBARefs) October 22, 2026

The basket stood. A missed traveling call is not something replay can fix, and the play came well before the final two minutes, so it will not appear in any Last Two Minute report. The referees account regularly explains rules to fans, and this time it said plainly that a basket which counted should not have.

How the gather and the two-step rule work

The key word is the gather. Under the NBA rule book, the gather is the moment a player has enough control of the ball to hold it, pass it, shoot it or cradle it against his body. A player moving with the ball when he gathers is allowed two steps after that moment to stop, pass or shoot.

The foot that is on the floor when the gather happens does not count as one of the two. That is why so many Euro steps and step-backs look like three steps to fans and are still legal. In Ball’s case, the referees counted the right foot as the gather foot, then the two legal steps, and then two more.

The first Last Two Minute reports of the season

Late Thursday afternoon in New York (around midnight in Cairo), the league posted its first Last Two Minute reports of the season. The reports grade every call and notable non-call in the final two minutes of games that were within three points at any point in that stretch. Two of Wednesday’s 11 games qualified: Hawks 132, Magic 125 and Pacers 123, Pelicans 120.

The L2M reports for the qualifying games played yesterday have been posted on https://t.co/2VwHgPhtR0.

— NBA Official (@NBAOfficial) October 22, 2026

Traveling showed up in both. In New Orleans, Indiana led 123-120 when Andrew Nembhard was called for traveling with 14.2 seconds left, giving the Pelicans the ball and two chances at a tying three. Jeremiah Fears and Zion Williamson both missed, and the Pacers held on. The league’s review says the call was wrong: Nembhard “gathers the ball and legally takes two steps. Although he drags his back foot, he never plants it for a third step.” Our Pacers-Pelicans recap has the full finish from Tyrese Haliburton’s return.

In Orlando, the report lists four errors in the final two minutes, including a travel that was missed. With 19.4 seconds left, Jalen Suggs “moves his pivot foot prior to releasing his dribble,” and it should have been called. The league also said Wendell Carter Jr. stayed in the lane for more than three seconds at 1:09 without a call, Desmond Bane should have been called for defensive three seconds at 53.8 seconds, and Aaron Wiggins’ foul on Paolo Banchero at 1:13.6 should have been a shooting foul. Atlanta won on two late Nickeil Alexander-Walker threes, as we covered in our Hawks-Magic recap.

Game	Time left	Play	League ruling
Pacers 123, Pelicans 120	0:14.2	Traveling called on Andrew Nembhard	Incorrect call: two legal steps
Hawks 132, Magic 125	0:19.4	Jalen Suggs moves his pivot foot, no call	Incorrect non-call: travel
Hawks 132, Magic 125	0:53.8	Desmond Bane in the lane, no call	Incorrect non-call: defensive three seconds
Hawks 132, Magic 125	1:09.0	Wendell Carter Jr. in the lane, no call	Incorrect non-call: three seconds
Hawks 132, Magic 125	1:13.6	Aaron Wiggins foul on Paolo Banchero	Should have been a shooting foul

Neither error changed a result. But the Nembhard call came in a three-point game with 14 seconds left, which is exactly the kind of play the reports were created to review in public.

A busy first week for the officials

Thursday’s posts add to a crowded week for the league office. It issued the season’s first postgame flopping fine to Paul George and used Court iQ tracking to change the value of two baskets, which we covered in our story on the first flop fine. It also downgraded Tari Eason’s ejection foul from a Flagrant 2 to a Flagrant 1, as explained in our Eason story. The points of emphasis the league gave referees before the season are in our explainer on flopping and landing space.

Last Two Minute reports are usually posted the day after the games, in the late afternoon in New York, which is around midnight in Cairo. With 12 games on Friday, there should be more to review soon. Follow every rules and league-office story on our Around the league page.