The swish of the net, coursing upward into itself, was not from James Harden’s 3 sinking through. No, it was from the NBA officials waving a white flag.

The refs indulged and enabled the favorite complaint of every old-fashioned basketball fan Wednesday, confirming that James Harden picking up his dribble and briefly running to the right does not qualify as a travel in the NBA.

The play, from Tuesday’s Rockets preseason game against the Chinese Basketball Association’s Sharks, was mocked for the league’s much looser practices on when players need to dribble. But the officials actually defending the rule was unexpected.

“This is a legal play,” tweeted the NBA officials’ official account. “Although James puts the ball behind his back, he only takes two steps after the gather of the ball and therefore it is NOT a travel.”

On the play in question, Harden picks up his dribble and puts the ball behind his back and essentially jumps — taking big steps with each foot — to his right before canning a 3.

In a league that understandably errs on the side of letting its athletes show off their athleticism, the travel is a casualty.