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The three seconds rule (also referred to as the three-second rule or three in the key, often termed as
lane
In road transport, a lane is part of a roadway that is designated to be used by a single line of vehicles to control and guide drivers and reduce traffic conflicts. Most public roads (highways) have at least two lanes, one for traffic in each ...
violation) requires that in
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 ...
, a player shall not remain in their team's
foul lane for more than three consecutive seconds while that player's team is in control of a live ball in the frontcourt and the game clock is running. The countdown starts when one foot enters the restricted area and resets when both feet leave the area.
[Rule 5 (Violations), Article 26. ]
The three-second rule was introduced in 1936 and was expressed as such: no offensive player, with or without the ball, could remain in the
key
Key or The Key may refer to:
Common meanings
* Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm
* Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock
* Key (map ...
, for three seconds or more.
The three-second rule came about in part following a game at
Madison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as The Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh and Eighth avenues from 31st to 33rd Street, above Pennsylva ...
between the
University of Kentucky
The University of Kentucky (UK, UKY, or U of K) is a Public University, public Land-grant University, land-grant research university in Lexington, Kentucky. Founded in 1865 by John Bryan Bowman as the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Kentu ...
(UK) and
New York University
New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin.
In 1832, the ...
(NYU) in 1935, won by NYU 23–22. The University of Kentucky team did not take their own referee, a common practice at the time, despite advice to the UK coach
Adolph Rupp
Adolph Frederick Rupp (September 2, 1901 – December 10, 1977) was an American college basketball coach. He is ranked seventh in total victories by a men's NCAA Division I college coach, winning 876 games in 41 years of coaching at the Univ ...
from
Notre Dame coach
George Keogan
George E. Keogan (March 8, 1890 – February 17, 1943) was an American football, basketball, and baseball coach, most known for coaching basketball at the University of Notre Dame from 1923 to 1943. Keogan never had a losing season in his 20 year ...
, who had lost to NYU the week prior and who warned Rupp of the discrepancies in officiating between the Midwest and the East. The game was rough. UK was unable to run its normal offense (which consisted of using screens) without being called for a foul. NYU's
Irving Terjesen
Irving Bernhard Terjesen (March 4, 1915 – April 12, 1990) was an American basketball player. An All-American college player at New York University, Terjesen played three seasons in the United States' National Basketball League (NBL).
Terjes ...
and Irwin Klein combined to guard one of UK's major players,
Leroy Edwards
Leroy Harry Edwards (April 11, 1914 – August 25, 1971), nicknamed "Cowboy" and "Lefty", was one of the greatest basketball players of his era. He was an NCAA All-American at the University of Kentucky and also one of the most lauded professiona ...
, allowing him to score a mere 6 points (the lowest output of his career). The ''
New York Post
The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is a conservative daily tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates NYPost.com, the celebrity gossip site PageSix.com, and the entertainment site Decider.com.
It was established ...
'' reacted with alarm: "The score says that NYU is the best college basketball team in the country and that the East still is supreme. But if Frank Lane, the referee from the Midwest, had worked the game, it's safe to assume big Leroy Edwards would have been given a fantastic number of foul shots. Minor mayhem was committed on the person of Edwards by Terjesen and Klein. Something will have to be done or the game will become entirely too rough."
Within the FIBA rules, an allowance is made for players who either receive the ball prior to being within the key for 3 seconds, or for those players who are leaving (or attempting to leave) the keyway.
See also
*
Defensive three-second violation
A defensive three-second violation, also known as illegal defense, is a basketball rules infraction in the National Basketball Association (NBA). It is assessed when a member of the defending team spends more than three seconds in the free throw l ...
*
Key (basketball)
The key, officially referred to as the free throw lane by the National Basketball Association (NBA), the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), and the National Federation of ...
*
Five-second rule
The five-second rule, sometimes known as the three-second rule,(7 February 2006Getting the dirt of the 5-second rule ''Southeast Missourian'' is a food hygiene myth that states a defined time window where it is safe to pick up food (or sometime ...
References
Rules of basketball
1936 introductions
{{Basketball-stub
Basketball terminology