Referee Misses Paul Pierce Walking a Country Mile with the Ball

Traveling in basketball is one of those unmistakable, yet highly subjective offenses.

You know it when you see it, but the number of extra steps taken can vary in the eyes of the beholder. 

Take this Paul Pierce uncalled travel for example, which may be the latest and greatest from an NBA veteran who knows a trick or two about moving his feet without dribbling the ball. 

The Brooklyn Nets were in the midst of a superhuman feat (knocking off the streaking Golden State Warriors) on Wednesday night, when Pierce did a little cha-cha dance with the rock. 

How many steps did he take? The over/under is sitting around five in my book, with the high being six and low resting at four. The Proclaimers are taking the over.

The best part about the scenario was how Pierce got away with it directly in front of an official, who stood by watching the samba-step routine without argument.

Granted, this is the NBA, where amazing and ignoring of basic rules happen. Veterans like Pierce also seem to be afforded a liberal amount of interpretive space for such trivial matters as dribbling.

Take the “Michael Jordan Salsa” for example. A couple basketball fans took the time to break down a particularly egregious instance of traveling by His Airness, counting out the steps Jordan got away with during an "old school" ball game.

Yup, that’s the salsa and a bag of chips. 

In Pierce’s case, the no-call could’ve been attributed to his tenure in the league—or the ref might’ve remained silent out of apathy. 

Prior to Wednesday night, the Nets' season was a dirge of awfulness. The team that showed up against the Warriors, however, wasn’t like anything fans had seen all year. 

With Pierce playing at power forward and the team showing signs of life on defense, the Nets caught the Warriors off guard. Brooklyn will host the Miami Heat at the Barclays Center on Friday—a tall task, to be certain.

The Nets probably don’t have what it takes to pull out the W, but if there's any time to get hot, it's now. Pierce and company could prove much to fans by putting the screws to Miami and taking Friday to the wire.

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