Introduction
There aren’t many instances where you can throw the basketball off of another player and it would be a good idea. However, that doesn’t mean that it’s completely legal, or illegal to do. Which brings us to our main question here, can you bounce the ball off someone in basketball? The answer is that yes, you can.
Referees will only whistle a foul on the throw and deem it illegal if they feel as though the throw was meant to injure another player. Sometimes, a player is even allowed to bounce the ball off of another player’s head during their dribble and continue going with no repercussions.
What Are The Benefits?
In all honesty, there really aren’t that many. If you are controlling the basketball and attempting to keep your dribble alive, there is no positive to bounce the ball off of another player. On most occasions, doing so will only cause you to lose possession. This includes aiming it at their heads, arms, and legs. However, there is one scenario where it provides a distinct advantage. That would be during the inbounds pass. If a player is trying to inbound the basketball, there is usually another person standing in front of them to limit their vision.
In the NBA, sometimes these defenders turn their backs to the player inbounding so that they can see the rest of the floor. It’s these circumstances that allow the inbounder to toss the ball off of the defenders back and run in bounds to pick it up and continue the possession.
In today’s NBA, we’ve actually seen this type of thing happen quite often. Of course, you can’t throw the ball extremely hard at the players’ back or else it will just come right back at you and stay out of play. It has to be a gentle toss so that you can collect yourself in play. Another instance that isn’t as scripted is during loose balls. For example, if I were to be running alongside an opponent, chasing after a loose ball, and it was rolling out of bounds, I could do one of three things. I could stop and let them grab it, jump over and grab it myself, or lunge forward and throw the ball backwards at them so that it bounces off them and goes out of bounds. That third option would be a benefit to bouncing it off of somebody. It would give your team possession of the ball due to it last touching them. This doesn’t always work because sometimes the ball bounces back and hits you again, though it’s always worth a shot.
Aiming At The Head Is Unsportsmanlike
Despite the fact that it does not always result in a foul, tossing the basketball off of another player’s head while you’re dribbling is a very unsportsmanlike move. A popular name in the basketball crowd, Julian Newman, picked up some attention by tossing the ball off people’s heads while he was working around on the perimeter while dribbling.
Not only is it horrible unsportsmanlike for you to do, but it also rubs a lot of opponents the wrong way and can cause immediate repercussions. In Newman’s case, he pulled this bounce off and was immediately shoved to the floor by the defender. If done gently, it is technically a legal move in some circumstances, though it isn’t something that should be taught or glorified in any capacity.
Bouncing Off Somebody Could Help Resume A Dribble
There are cases when you are dribbling, and you just get stuck. No matter how you got stuck, it happened, and now you have picked up the basketball. This stoppage now means that you have to either pass the ball or shoot, or else you get hit with a travel. So, there’s really only two ways that you can resume dribbling in this scenario.
The first would be if you are fouled. Which almost doesn’t even count due to play stopping. Then the other would be if you bounce the ball off somebody’s leg or arm and pick it back up. You would likely need to sell the bounce a little bit to the officials so it doesn’t look blatantly intentional, though this would work in a game. Bouncing it off another defender would label this play as a loose ball, and if you pick it back up, it becomes a new dribble. You see this tactic very often during 1 vs. 1 matchup, both casual and professional.
What Happens If The Bounce Falls In The Basket?
As unlikely as it might sound, there have been recorded instances in the NBA where a player bounced the ball off an opponent’s head, and it went through the hoop. It sounds rare, because it is, yet it has happened a few times. When this happens, the person who bounced the ball off their opponent’s head would get rewarded with points if they are on offense. If they are on defense, the person who got hit in the head would be rewarded with points.
Basically, whoever touches the ball last for the team that was on offense for that possession would receive the points for that play. Regardless of how it happened and how it bounced off them.
No Kick Balls
One massive stipulation to this topic is that there is an official stoppage in play called the kick ball violation. A defender is not legally allowed to stretch their leg out and kick the ball away as a method of defense. For example, you can’t reach out and kick the ball out of an opponent’s hands during a dribble. You also can’t kick the ball out of the air if an opponent tries to pass it to their teammate. Either of these instances would result in play being stopped and an inbounds pass being set up. The ball would still be able to hit their legs during a regular game though. Meaning that the play won’t stop every single time that the basketball hits somebody in the legs. However, referees can usually tell the difference between an intentional breakup with their legs or a bounce that just so happened to hit somebody low.