And it can’t be when the player first makes contact…because he could still dribble.

If someone is just dribbling normally and takes like 5 quick steps in place in-between two dribbles, should that be a travel?

The rule currently says you count steps once the player has gathered the ball…and the first step starts with the foot that’s on the ground when the gather takes place…so technically you get 2.99 steps

The gather is defined basically by when you can no longer dribble. So if your 2nd hand has made contact with the ball, or your 1st hand has moved underneath the ball, or the ball has stopped moving(so like a palming the ball situation)

In this scenario, I think kawhi’s 1st hand goes under the ball and he proceeds to take 3 steps, so I think it’s still a travel, but it’s hard to tell and it’s definitely not blatant by the rules.