Introduction
It’s not uncommon for newcomers to the sport of basketball to confuse some of the rules. After all, basketball isn’t always the easiest sport to understand straight away. And they do have an awful lot of rules for you to understand before you can hit the ground running. This is what brings me to the main question we have here, can you throw the ball up and catch it again in basketball?
No, legally you aren’t able to throw the ball up and catch it again in basketball. Technically, yes, you can toss it up and go grab it, but it would immediately be whistled as a foul and give possession of the basketball to the other team. The only real way for you to accomplish this is to toss it off the backboard, jump into the air, catch the ball and slam it down before you land. That is a completely legal move that we’ve seen occur lately. However, there isn’t any other way to pull this off.
That’s not the end of this conversation just yet though, we have to talk a lot further about tossing the ball to yourself on the basketball court.
It’s A Traveling Violation
The reason that this isn’t allowed at the basketball courts is because it violates the traveling rule. A travel is when a player takes multiple steps with the basketball without dribbling it. Obviously, some players in the past thought that it’s a loophole to just toss the ball into the air and go grab it yourself, avoiding the dribbling aspect of the game entirely. Of course, that didn’t last for very long and it’s become commonplace for tossing the ball to yourself to be outlawed.
So, if you toss the ball straight into the air and go grab it over the head of your defender, it’s a traveling violation. The referees, or other players, will spot that from a mile away and shut it down before you even get closer to the rim. Not to mention that this is a very dangerous move in the eyes of your teammates, who think that you might turn the ball over by throwing it up for grabs like that.
Off The Backboard
Weirdly enough, players are able to toss the ball up to themselves, only if they utilize the backboard. For example, we got to see LeBron Jamese do this in the NBA Finals. He got stuck in the middle of the painted area with no way out. He already picked up his dribble and had no open teammates. Instead of chucking a bad shot, he leaned forward and threw the ball off the glass before sprinting past defenders, jumping into the air, and dunking it all over them to get his team fired up. This is an example of a way to toss it up into the air and catch it yourself.
If you don’t make use of the backboard like LeBron did in that example, then the referee will call a foul. You also have to be careful that you don’t throw it too hard off the backboard, or it can just launch in the other direction and hurt your team.
Legitimate Shot Attempt
Judgement calls are all over the place nowadays, and basketball is no different. Referees in the sport of basketball are often left to make a lot of judgement calls on some fouls or violations that take place on the court. The topic of tossing the ball up into the air and catching it again can be a judgement call when we are talking about a shot attempt. Let’s say that you take a three-point attempt and realize that the ball is going to air ball. Instead of standing there, you sprint towards it and grab it before it hits the ground. The officials will call the traveling call, only if they feel like it was a genuine shot attempt.
If the referees on the sidelines didn’t feel like you really attempted to take a shot there, they will call the violation on you and flip possession of the ball. Unfortunately, there’s no better way to describe this area of legality because this can vary depending on the situation at hand and the officials that are refereeing the game.
Deflections
If for whatever reason you think that you might not have a lane to move anywhere on the floor. You can try to bounce the ball off of a defender to pop it into the air. In that case, you could catch it. Although, this won’t be an effective method and might just result in more fights than actual game progress.
A better concept regarding deflections is when a defender initiates it. If you were to try and pass the ball or attempt a jump shot, and the defender deflects the basketball into the air, then it is completely fair game for you to catch it. This is legal, as opposed to tossing it into the air yourself and then trying to advance your position.
Burning Clock
Yes, you can absolutely burn clock if you toss the ball straight up into the air. You aren’t able to catch the ball when it comes back down, but you can throw it up into the air and hope that the clock runs out before it flies back down to the hardwood. We’ve seen numerous NBA players attempt this strategy, with one very notable one resulting in a loss for his team because he mistimed when he threw the ball into the sky.
You might not be able to burn a lot of time when throwing the ball into the air, but there’s certainly aa chance that this can become useful in certain situations. Particularly when you are up by a few points with the clock rapidly winding down, and with your team not wanting to commit a crucial mistake to flip the game around.