Two steps too many: Refs confirm LaMelo traveled en route to 3-point make

NBA referees have settled the internet's latest officiating argument: LaMelo Ball really did travel.

The union that represents the league's officials posted a clip on Thursday from Wednesday night's game between the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Miami Heat, confirming that Ball committed a traveling violation ahead of a second-quarter 3-pointer that the on-court crew allowed to count.

"For everyone asking, 'how is this legal?' It's not!" the referees' union wrote on X. Officials broke down the play frame by frame: after gathering the ball with his right foot on the floor, the rules permit two steps — Ball took four.

The clip raced around social media after the final buzzer, becoming one of the night's most-shared NBA moments. The basket that should have been waved off broke a 39-39 tie in the second quarter, though it mattered little in the end: Minnesota pulled away for a 131-106 victory.

Ball had an unlikely co-signer in his own household. His older brother Lonzo, a seven-year NBA veteran, made the correct call moments after the play happened, posting "Travel lmaoooo" as the video spread.

LaMelo, who was making his Timberwolves debut, refused to give an inch in a televised interview with ESPN after the game. Told that his brother had ruled against him, he laughed: "He hatin'. He hatin'," adding that family rules are different — even when he is wrong, he is right. Ball finished the night with 21 points.