Throw-in

17.1.1

A throw-in occurs when the ball is passed on to the court by the out-of-bounds thrower-in.

17.1.2

A throw-in:

• Starts when the ball is at the disposal of the thrower-in.
• Ends when:
  • The ball touches or is legally touched by any player on the court.
  • The team of the thrower-in commits a violation.
  • A live ball lodges between the ring and the backboard during a throw-in.

17.2.1

A referee must hand or place the ball at the disposal of the thrower-in. The referee may also toss or bounce pass the ball provided that:

• The referee is no more than 4 m away from the thrower-in.
• The thrower-in is at the correct place as designated by the referee.

17.2.2

The player shall take the throw-in from the place nearest to the infraction or where the game was stopped, except from directly behind the backboard.

17.2.3

At the start of all quarters other than the first quarter and all overtimes, the throw-in shall be administered from the centre line extended, opposite the scorer's table. The thrower-in shall have one foot on either side of the centre line extended, opposite the scorer’s table, and shall be entitled to pass the ball to a team-mate at any place on the court.

17.2.4

When the game clock shows 2:00 minutes or less in the fourth quarter and in each overtime, following a time-out taken by the team entitled to the possession of the ball from its backcourt, the head coach of that team has the right to decide whether the game shall be resumed with a throw-in from the throw-in line in the team’s frontcourt or from the team’s backcourt at the place nearest to where the game was stopped. If the head coach decides to resume the game with a frontcourt throw-in and the original throw-in is in the backcourt from

• the endline after a successful goal or a successful last free throw, the head coach shall decide whether the throw-in shall take place from the throw-in line on the table side or on opposite side.
• the sideline or the endline after a foul, violation (including an out-of-bounds violation) or a jump ball situation, the throw-in shall take place in the frontcourt from the throw-in line on the same side of the court (table side or opposite side) as the original throw-in.

17.2.5

Following a personal foul committed by a player of the team in control of a live ball, or of the team entitled to the ball, the game shall be resumed with a throw-in from the place nearest to the infraction.

17.2.6

Following a technical foul, the game shall be resumed with a throw-in from the place nearest to where the ball was located when the technical foul was committed, unless otherwise stated in these rules.

17.2.7

Following a disruptive, flagrant or disqualifying foul, the game shall be resumed with a throw-in from the throw-in line in the team’s frontcourt, opposite the scorer’s table, unless otherwise stated in these rules.

17.2.8

Following a fight, the game shall be resumed as stated in Article 40.

17.2.9

Whenever the ball enters the basket, but the goal or the last free throw is not valid, the game shall be resumed with a throw-in from the free-throw line extended.

17.2.10

Following a successful goal or a successful last free throw:

• Any player of the non-scoring team shall take the throw-in from any place behind that team’s endline. This is also applicable after a referee hands or places the ball at the disposal of the thrower-in after a time-out or after any interruption of the game following a successful goal or a successful last free throw.
• The thrower-in from behind the endline may move laterally along the endline and/or backwards and the ball may be passed between team-mates, but the 5-second count starts when the ball is at the disposal of the first player out-of-bounds.

17.3.1

The thrower-in shall not:

• Take more than 5 seconds to release the ball.
• Step on to the court while having the ball in the hand(s).
• Cause the ball to touch out-of-bounds, after it has been released on the throw-in.
• Touch the ball before it has touched another player on the court.
• Cause the ball to enter the basket directly.
• Move from the designated throw-in place behind the boundary line laterally in one or both directions, exceeding a total distance of 1 m before releasing the ball. However, the player is permitted to move directly backwards from the boundary line as far as circumstances allow.

17.3.2

During the throw-in other player(s) shall not:

• Have any part of their bodies over the boundary line before the ball has been thrown in across the boundary line.
• Be closer than 1 m to the thrower-in when the throw-in place has less than 2 m distance between the boundary line and any out-of-bounds obstructions.

17.3.3

When the game clock shows 2:00 minutes or less in the fourth quarter and in each overtime and there is a throw-in, the referee shall use an ‘illegal boundary line crossing’ signal as a warning to the defensive player before administering the throwin. If a defensive player then:

• Moves any part of the body over the boundary line to interfere with a throw-in, or
• Is closer than 1 m to the thrower-in when the throw-in place has less than 2 m distance, it is a violation and shall lead to a technical foul.