---
name: basketball-rules
description: Explains and applies basketball playing rules for the NBA, WNBA, NCAA men's and women's, and FIBA, and settles rule disputes level by level. Use for shot clock resets, goaltending vs basket interference, traveling and the gather step, fouling out, the bonus and team-foul limits, flagrant/technical/clear-path/take fouls, backcourt and 8/10-second calls, timeouts and the advance rule, coach's challenges, the 0.3-second rule, and any "NBA vs college vs FIBA" difference.
---

# Basketball rules

Rule answers depend on the level and the season. Most errors come from applying NBA rules to college or FIBA, or a rule's old form to the current season.

Editions checked on 2026-10-27:
- NBA 2026-27 Official Playing Rules
- WNBA 2026 Official Rule Book
- NCAA Men's Rules Book 2026-27
- NCAA Women's Rules Book 2025-26 and 2026-27 (updated Sept. 1, 2026)
- NCAA Major Rules Differences 2026-27
- FIBA Official Basketball Rules 2026 (in force Oct. 1, 2026)

Citations use NBA/WNBA "R7-IV" (rule–section), NCAA "M 9-15" / "W 8-2" (rule–section), and FIBA "Art. 29".

## Procedure

1. **Level and season.** Which league, which gender for NCAA, and which season? If not stated, ask, or answer for each level the question plausibly covers. A pre-2019 NCAA clip has a different 3-point line, and a pre-2022-23 NBA clip has no transition take foul.
2. **Live or dead ball?** Fix the state when the act happened: live, dead, in flight on a try, after the horn, or a throw-in not yet released. Many penalties change on this (away-from-the-play, flagrant on a dead ball, FIBA goaltending after the ring).
3. **Find the specific rule.** Name it and cite it. Check whether a level-specific exception applies; the table and the references list the common ones.
4. **Administer it.** State the penalty: free throws (and who may shoot), possession and the inbound spot, shot-clock value, and any foul counts (personal, team, flagrant, technical) and ejection.

When a fact is not in the references and you can't verify it, say "(unverified — check current rulebook)". Don't fill it in from memory.

## Levels at a glance

| | NBA | WNBA | NCAA men | NCAA women | FIBA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Periods | 4×12 | 4×10 | 2×20 halves | 4×10 | 4×10 |
| Overtime | 5 min | 5 min | 5 min | 5 min | 5 min |
| Shot clock | 24 / 14 reset | 24 / 14 | 30 / 20 | 30 / 20 | 24 / 14 |
| Backcourt count | 8 s | 8 s | 10 s | 10 s | 8 s |
| 3-pt arc (corner) | 23'9" (22') | 22'1¾" (~22') | 22'1¾" (21'7⅞") | 22'1¾" (21'7⅞") | 6.75 m (6.60 m) |
| Lane width | 16 ft | 16 ft | 12 ft | 12 ft | 4.90 m |
| Restricted area | 4-ft arc | 4-ft arc | 4-ft arc | no arc: under basket only | 1.30 m semicircle |
| Foul out | 6 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 5 |
| Team-foul penalty | 5th foul/qtr: 2 FT (OT: 4th) | same as NBA | 7th/half 1-and-1; 10th 2 FT | 5th/qtr 2 FT | 5th/qtr 2 FT; OT = 4th qtr |
| Defensive 3 seconds | yes (technical) | yes (technical) | no | no | no |
| Held ball | jump ball | jump ball (unverified) | arrow | arrow | arrow |
| Advance after timeout | 28' hash, last 2:00 Q4/OT | 28' hash, last 2:00 | no | 28' line, last 0:59.9 Q4/OT, ball in backcourt after a basket, rebound or change of possession | frontcourt throw-in line, last 2:00 Q4/OT |
| Coach's challenge | 1, +1 if successful | 1, +1 if successful | 1, +1 if overturned (new 2025-26) | unlimited appeals; a failed one is a charged timeout, or a technical with none left | Head Coach's Challenge |

For citations, timeouts and shot-clock reset tables, see `references/levels-compared.md`.

## Traps

- **Bonus math.**
  - NBA/WNBA: 4 team fouls per quarter are "free"; the 5th gives 2 FTs.
  - NCAA men: one-and-one on the 7th team foul of the half, 2 FTs from the 10th. Fouls reset at halftime only.
  - NCAA women: 2 FTs from the 5th team foul of each quarter, with no one-and-one.
  - FIBA counts every OT as part of the 4th quarter. As of 2026, disruptive, flagrant and player technical fouls also count as team fouls; a technical charged to the head coach (bench) does not.
- **Fouling out.** NBA/WNBA 6; everywhere else 5.
  - NCAA men count personal fouls plus Class A technicals; NCAA women count personal fouls, Flagrant 1s and all technicals.
  - FIBA 2026: every foul a player commits (personal, disruptive, flagrant, technical) counts toward the 5 (Art. 41.1). Separately, two Category 1 technicals, two flagrants, or one of each disqualify for the game; disruptive fouls don't count toward that (Art. 36-38).
- **Goaltending vs basket interference.**
  - NBA: touching the ball on the rim, or reaching through the rim, is a violation.
  - FIBA: goaltending restrictions end once the ball touches the ring (Art. 31.2.3), so a player may legally tap a ball that is rolling on the rim. Basket interference rules still apply.
  - Credit 2 or 3 points by the type of try, not by where the touch happened.
- **Gather and steps.** NBA and FIBA allow two steps after the gather; the step taken while gathering doesn't count (the "zero step", NBA R4-III/R10-XIII, FIBA Art. 25.2.1). The NCAA rule is pivot-foot based with no gather language (M 9-5); don't import NBA gather logic into NCAA calls.
- **Shot clock.** The reset is 14 (NBA/WNBA/FIBA) or 20 (NCAA) only when the offense keeps or regains the ball after it hits the ring, or after certain frontcourt fouls and violations; a backcourt inbound or a change of possession gets a full reset. An air ball recovered by the offense gets no reset; the clock keeps running (NBA R7-IV, M 2-11).
- **Take fouls.**
  - NBA/WNBA: a transition take foul (2022-23 onward in the NBA) is 1 FT, which any player on the court may shoot, plus possession. It does not apply in the last 2:00 of Q4/OT, where away-from-the-play rules govern.
  - Clear path is a separate, harsher foul: 2 FTs plus the ball.
  - FIBA 2026 replaced the unsportsmanlike foul with the disruptive foul for these situations.
- **NCAA men's quarters.** Not adopted. 2026-27 is still two 20-minute halves (M 5-6). Don't say otherwise without a newer rulebook.
- **Elam Ending.** It is not in any league's playing rules for regular-season or playoff games, and the All-Star format changes every year. The 2026 NBA All-Star Game was a three-team round robin of four 12-minute games, with overtime played to a target score of 5 (first to reach it wins). Verify a later year's format before describing it.

## References

- `references/levels-compared.md`: open this for a full side-by-side with rule numbers, timeouts, shot-clock reset tables, the advance-the-ball rule, challenge scope, and the dated change log (which season a rule started).
- `references/fouls-and-bonus.md`: open this when a call involves penalty administration: bonus counts, flagrant 1/2, technicals, clear path, transition take, away-from-the-play, FIBA disruptive/flagrant, and ejection math.
- `references/edge-cases.md`: open this for a disputed play: goaltending vs basket interference, gather/travel, continuation and and-ones, the 0.3 rule, backcourt exceptions, inbound violations, blocked shots out of bounds, jump ball vs arrow, three seconds, and hand-checking.