A defensive three-second violation, also known as illegal defense, is a
basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...
rules infraction in the
National Basketball Association
The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United S ...
(NBA). It is assessed when a member of the defending team spends more than three seconds in the
free throw lane (also called the key, the 16-foot lane, or "the paint") while not actively guarding an opponent. To be considered actively guarding an opponent, a defender must be within arm's length of an opponent and must be in a guarding position. A violation will not be called if an offensive player is in the act of shooting, if the offensive team loses control of the ball, if it is imminent that the defender's position will become legal, or if the defender is guarding a player who has possession of the ball.
The team committing a defensive three-second violation is assessed a team
technical foul
In basketball, a technical foul (colloquially known as a "T" or a "tech") is any infraction of the rules penalized as a foul which does not involve physical contact during the course of play between opposing players on the court, or is a foul by a ...
. The offense receives one free throw and retains possession of the ball.
The NBA also made zone defenses legal prior to the 2001–2002 season. However, the defensive three-second violation makes it difficult for NBA defenses to play zone, since zone defenses usually position a player in the middle of the key to stop penetration. The
Philippine Basketball Association
The Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) is a men's professional basketball league in the Philippines composed of twelve company-branded franchised teams. Founded in 1975, it is the first professional basketball league in Asia and is the se ...
used to follow the illegal defense rule until the
2003 PBA season, when it was abolished.
The
WNBA adopted its own defensive three-second rule in
2013
File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...
.
See also
*
Three seconds rule
The three seconds rule (also referred to as the three-second rule or three in the key, often termed as lane violation) requires that in basketball, a player shall not remain in their team's foul lane for more than three consecutive seconds whil ...
*
Five-second rule (basketball) In basketball, the five-second rule, or five-second violation, is a rule that helps promote continuous play. There are multiple situations where a five-second violation may occur.
Five-second throw-in violation
Under all basketball rule sets, a tea ...
References
Basketball penalties
{{Basketball-stub