Anyone notice how much Luka carries the ball?

[eliteballer]

It's pretty blatant, surprised he isn't being called left and right.

[Kblaze8855]

All the tall ball handlers have been allowed to carry alllllmost every change of direction for a good 15 years. And even before that to a lesser extent. It’s how they make forward sized people legit ball handlers.

Giannis and KD are as blatant as anyone ever.

Big wings and forwards have become viable ball handlers as much by refs looking the other way as by improved handles.

I can’t just keep being surprised.

[Wardell Curry]

Everyone in the nba is allowed to carry. Ja Morant’s entire career is based on carrying.

The nba is cooked.

[Meticode]

Welcome to the NBA. Carries and travels have to be more than blatantly obvious to get called in the last one or two decades.

[Neal Romer]

OP are you new to the NBA?

EVERYONE carries the ball except for Lebron.

[RRR3]

OP is threatened by any great player that comes to the Lakers because he's terrified they might overshadow his hero Kobe :roll:

[SouBeachTalents]

OP is threatened by any great player that comes to the Lakers because he's terrified they might overshadow his hero Kobe :roll:
Makes it ironic he's so concerned about carrying.

[BarberSchool]

If Luka carries it every time he touches the ball,
Giannis carries it on the catch lol
And KD carries it at the free throw line somehow.

[RRR3]

Makes it ironic he's so concerned about carrying.
Jesus Christ :roll:

[Xiao Yao You]

But i thought they were just incredibly skilled compared to players of old

[Meticode]

But i thought they were just incredibly skilled compared to players of old

They are.

[sdot_thadon]

Welcome to the 1980s op, Glad you could join us. Seriously, did you ever even watch games? Stars have always been allowed a little more freedom with dribbling, the difference is now this era doesn't discriminate anyone can do the same shit. In my circle of irl nba fans I've always pointed out Giannis' career didn't really take off until they allowed him to dribble. In the 90s guys "6'10 "(put that in quotes because 6'9 is probably included there too, 90s measurement games lol)and up would get whistled just for thinking about a crossover lol. I know I saw Hakeem do some but also be called for some and he, Pat and David were probably considered elite ball handlers for centers back then.

[Wardell Curry]

But i thought they were just incredibly skilled compared to players of old

Both can be true, and they are true with certain things.

It's hard to deny that today's perimeter players specifically can do more things overall with a wider overall skillset.

Today's average big man can shoot and move better as well.

Post play and skill is the major thing that has dropped off imo.

But yes, people are carrying the ball nowadays like never before and it's another added layer that makes it difficult to compare eras.

[Xiao Yao You]

Both can be true, and they are true with certain things.

It's hard to deny that today's perimeter players specifically can do more things overall with a wider overall skillset.

Today's average big man can shoot and move better as well.

Post play and skill is the major thing that has dropped off imo.

But yes, people are carrying the ball nowadays like never before and it's another added layer that makes it difficult to compare eras.

If they werent allowed to get away with things players of old werent it isnt true.

[Jasper]

every player does it now .. started with Harden

[Real Men Wear Green]

I've been watching the NBA since '94 and can't remember a time when there wasn't a lot of complaining about the ball being palmed.

[Xiao Yao You]

I grew up not palming the ball so im sure i wasnt complaing about it in the 80s. People complained about travelling but iy has just gotten worse. The gather step is still hard to get used to. But so skilled!

[Xiao Yao You]

AI probably when it staryed to get to ridiculous levels for me

[eliteballer]

He carries on every dribble.

[Wardell Curry]

He carries on every dribble.

He's not the only one, lol. Have you even watched the games for the past 10 years at minimum?

[Wardell Curry]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XA798UMn7tU

[Wardell Curry]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZiShwpgJeo

This is Kevin Durant carrying the ball for 8 minutes straight.

The video above that one is Ja Morant doing it. Ja Morant is by far the worst I have ever seen in league history. His game is absolutely nothing without it. He certainly would not be a star and I question if he would even be in the league.

[Wardell Curry]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YgGwh-J9c88

You're right about Luka though, look at this. And look at the very first play. LeBron is carrying the ball right before he passes Luka the ball.

The NBA is cooked and has been for some time. It is almost impossible to compare players cross era. Hell it's difficult to compare players of the same era because they all have different teammates and circumstances, lol.

[Nowoco]

Ja Morant’s entire career is based on carrying.


Yeah, open carrying.

[Wardell Curry]

https://i.makeagif.com/media/8-28-2017/ruzs8y.gif

The NBA probably hasn't been clean with not carrying the ball since this gif. It's probably been close to 50 or 60 years. Hell I guess getting close to 70.

But it's certainly at an all time low. The reason they don't call it is multifaceted. Players continued to do it more and more over time to the point that it became normalized and nobody wants to see the game slow down that much because of dribbling violations and TWO because it leads to fancy looking offensive moves.

[Xiao Yao You]

Kerr gets it

https://www.deseret.com/sports/2025/03/05/golden-state-coach-steve-kerr-on-crusade-against-traveling/

[Axe]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZiShwpgJeo

This is Kevin Durant carrying the ball for 8 minutes straight.

The video above that one is Ja Morant doing it. Ja Morant is by far the worst I have ever seen in league history. His game is absolutely nothing without it. He certainly would not be a star and I question if he would even be in the league.
Lol it's good to see that moron not having any all-nba 1st honors until now and his team winning a lot without him in 2022. The suspensions bt also ought to teach him some hard lessons too.

[Full Court]

Lol it's good to see that moron not having any all-nba 1st honors until now and his team winning a lot without him in 2022. The suspensions bt also ought to teach him some hard lessons too.

You should probably just throw more bitch fits about it. :lol

[Axe]

https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTgJlaYykOeriV0g-CmztDbyLIB7OzQHuDISg&usqp=CAU

[ImKobe]

If Luka carries it every time he touches the ball,
Giannis carries it on the catch lol
And KD carries it at the free throw line somehow.

Yeah Giannis has always done this lol the NBA doesn't care they're about entertainment first. Refs just call whatever they feel like calling.


Welcome to the 1980s op, Glad you could join us. Seriously, did you ever even watch games? Stars have always been allowed a little more freedom with dribbling, the difference is now this era doesn't discriminate anyone can do the same shit. In my circle of irl nba fans I've always pointed out Giannis' career didn't really take off until they allowed him to dribble. In the 90s guys "6'10 "(put that in quotes because 6'9 is probably included there too, 90s measurement games lol)and up would get whistled just for thinking about a crossover lol. I know I saw Hakeem do some but also be called for some and he, Pat and David were probably considered elite ball handlers for centers back then.

Yeah and this is why they're not calling it lol. Creates more "superstar" perimeter players who otherwise wouldn't have the ballhandling skills to pull it off.

[sdot_thadon]

Yeah Giannis has always done this lol the NBA doesn't care they're about entertainment first. Refs just call whatever they feel like calling.



Yeah and this is why they're not calling it lol. Creates more "superstar" perimeter players who otherwise wouldn't have the ballhandling skills to pull it off.

Not only that the body proportions of big guys make it hard for them to have "pretty" games in those eras. And especially hard for them to dribble with the security small guys can just because of the distance of ball travel between bounces. All the 90s tall fellas were mid post 2 dribbles and score for the most part. Olajuwon could dribble from the perimeter on occasion but it wasn't anything near common for even him. I think 2 of the best bigs I've seen at putting in on the floor and driving from that era were Robinson and Ewing and everytime Pat did it i thought it was the stiffest shit ever but it worked for him and his pull up game.

[Wally450]

Isaiah Thomas used to be so unbelievably bad with it. I remember Fred Hoiberg complaining about it during their playoff series in 2017.

[FKAri]

I think the GOAT ball-carrier is KD. Can't beat his frequency or audacity.

But then again every big perimeter guy does it. And the guys with the big mitts (Kawhi, MJ, etc) palm it every time but it's impossible to notice in real time. Personally, if you can do the micro-palming that MJ mastered(that shit that looked like an in and out dribble but was really him just palming the ball and changing direction), it shouldn't even be called. Hats off to you. And it was rarely called.

[Xiao Yao You]

Not only that the body proportions of big guys make it hard for them to have "pretty" games in those eras. And especially hard for them to dribble with the security small guys can just because of the distance of ball travel between bounces. All the 90s tall fellas were mid post 2 dribbles and score for the most part. Olajuwon could dribble from the perimeter on occasion but it wasn't anything near common for even him. I think 2 of the best bigs I've seen at putting in on the floor and driving from that era were Robinson and Ewing and everytime Pat did it i thought it was the stiffest shit ever but it worked for him and his pull up game.

Always thought robinson played more like a small forward offensively.goes back to when he was 6'7 before his late growth spurt i guess