# Law 17: Throw-in (FIBA Official Basketball Rules)

Basketball · Law 17: Throw-in · Insporta Book (https://book.insporta.app/basketball/laws/law-17-throw-in/)

What a throw-in is and when it ends, where it is taken after fouls, goals and at the start of quarters, the head coach's choice in the last two minutes, and what the thrower-in and the defenders may not do.

## 17.171 Where a Throw-in Is Taken

Definition, start and end, and the place of the throw-in after each kind of stoppage.

### Test 1: What a throw-in is and its usual place

- A throw-in occurs when the ball is passed on to the court by the out-of-bounds thrower-in. (Source: FIBA OBR 2026, Art. 17.1.1)
- A throw-in ends when the ball touches, or is legally touched by, a player on the court. (Source: FIBA OBR 2026, Art. 17.1.2)
- A throw-in ends when the team of the thrower-in commits a violation. (Source: FIBA OBR 2026, Art. 17.1.2)
- A live ball lodging between the ring and the backboard during a throw-in ends the throw-in. (Source: FIBA OBR 2026, Art. 17.1.2)
- The referee may toss or bounce the ball if no more than 4 m away and the thrower-in is at the designated place. (Source: FIBA OBR 2026, Art. 17.2.1)
- A personal foul by the team in control, or entitled to the ball, leads to a throw-in from the place nearest the infraction. (Source: FIBA OBR 2026, Art. 17.2.5)
- Unless stated otherwise, the throw-in is from the place nearest to where the ball was when the technical foul happened. (Source: FIBA OBR 2026, Art. 17.2.6)
- A throw-in runs from the ball at the thrower-in's disposal to the first touch on the court. (Source: FIBA OBR 2026, Art. 17.1.2, 17.2.1)
- The lodged ball ends the throw-in and is settled by alternating possession. (Source: FIBA OBR 2026, Art. 12.4, 17.1.2)
- The throw-in is from the place nearest the infraction, except directly behind the backboard: B, on the endline beside it. (Source: FIBA OBR 2026, Art. 17.2.2)

### Test 2: Special places for a throw-in

- He has one foot on either side of the centre line extended, opposite the scorer's table. (Source: FIBA OBR 2026, Art. 17.2.3)
- He is entitled to pass the ball to a team-mate at any place on the court. (Source: FIBA OBR 2026, Art. 17.2.3)
- Unless stated otherwise, it is from the throw-in line in the team's frontcourt, opposite the scorer's table. (Source: FIBA OBR 2026, Art. 17.2.7)
- When the ball enters but the goal or last free throw is not valid, the throw-in is from the free-throw line extended. (Source: FIBA OBR 2026, Art. 17.2.9)
- Any player of the non-scoring team throws in from any place behind that team's endline. (Source: FIBA OBR 2026, Art. 17.2.10)
- He may move laterally or backwards and the ball may be passed between team-mates behind the endline. (Source: FIBA OBR 2026, Art. 17.2.10)
- The 5-second count starts when the ball is at the disposal of the first player out of bounds. (Source: FIBA OBR 2026, Art. 17.2.10)
- After a goal the non-scoring team may move and pass along its endline before throwing in. (Source: FIBA OBR 2026, Art. 17.2.10)
- Every quarter after the first starts with an alternating possession throw-in from the centre line extended. (Source: FIBA OBR 2026, Art. 12.6.3, 17.2.3)
- Quarters after the first start with a throw-in from the centre line extended, opposite the scorer's table. (Source: FIBA OBR 2026, Art. 17.2.3)

## 17.172 The Last Two Minutes and the Thrower-in's Rules

The head coach's choice after a late time-out, the warning, and throw-in violations.

### Test 1: The last two minutes

- With 2:00 or less in the 4th quarter or an overtime, the head coach of the team taking the time-out chooses. (Source: FIBA OBR 2026, Art. 17.2.4)
- He may restart from the throw-in line in the frontcourt or from the backcourt place nearest where play stopped. (Source: FIBA OBR 2026, Art. 17.2.4)
- After a goal or successful last free throw, the head coach decides whether the throw-in line is on the table side or opposite. (Source: FIBA OBR 2026, Art. 17.2.4)
- After a foul, violation or jump ball situation, the frontcourt throw-in is on the same side as the original throw-in. (Source: FIBA OBR 2026, Art. 17.2.4)
- The rule covers 2:00 or less in the fourth quarter and in each overtime. (Source: FIBA OBR 2026, Art. 17.2.4)
- In that period the referee uses the illegal boundary line crossing signal as a warning to the defender. (Source: FIBA OBR 2026, Art. 17.3.3)
- After the warning, crossing the line to interfere with the throw-in is a violation that leads to a technical foul. (Source: FIBA OBR 2026, Art. 17.3.3)
- The time-out gives the head coach the choice of a frontcourt restart. (Source: FIBA OBR 2026, Art. 17.2.4)
- The warning comes first; crossing after it costs a technical foul. (Source: FIBA OBR 2026, Art. 17.3.3)
- The choice is the throw-in line in the team's frontcourt (A, as the white caps attack left) or the original backcourt spot. (Source: FIBA OBR 2026, Art. 17.2.4)

### Test 2: Thrower-in and defenders

- The thrower-in shall not take more than 5 seconds to release the ball. (Source: FIBA OBR 2026, Art. 17.3.1)
- Stepping onto the court with the ball in the hands is a throw-in violation. (Source: FIBA OBR 2026, Art. 17.3.1)
- The thrower-in shall not cause the ball to enter the basket directly. (Source: FIBA OBR 2026, Art. 17.3.1)
- He may move directly backwards from the boundary line as far as circumstances allow. (Source: FIBA OBR 2026, Art. 17.3.1)
- Other players shall not have any part of their bodies over the boundary line before the ball has crossed it. (Source: FIBA OBR 2026, Art. 17.3.2)
- Where there is less than 2 m to any obstruction, other players may not be closer than 1 m to the thrower-in. (Source: FIBA OBR 2026, Art. 17.3.2)
- The ball goes to the opponents for a throw-in from the place of the original throw-in. (Source: FIBA OBR 2026, Art. 17.4)
- A 5-second throw-in violation hands the ball to the opponents at the same place. (Source: FIBA OBR 2026, Art. 17.3.1, 17.4)
- 1 m, 2 m, 4 m. (Source: FIBA OBR 2026, Art. 17.2.1, 17.3)
- He may move sideways by no more than 1 m in total (D's 0.4 m and back is 0.8 m), and straight back as far as there is room. (Source: FIBA OBR 2026, Art. 17.3.1)

Sources: FIBA Official Basketball Rules 2026 (v1.1), Article 17 (paraphrased in original wording; original questions authored from the Rules, not reproduced)

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