[BillyMac]

"After the made dunk shot, James (LAL) remains on the rim after the timeout is called and players have cleared the area under the rim. The ball is dead and he is not taunting opponents or delaying the game."

Because I'm not familiar with the interpretation of NBA rules, I concede that the references to the timeout being called, the players clearing the area under the rim, the not taunting opponents, and the not delaying the game, may all be valid NBA interpretations for not charging a technical foul.

That being said, I'm having problems wrapping my head around the dead ball reference. I agree that the ball is dead. But do not all ring grasps following a successful dunk, illegally prolonged, or otherwise legal, occur during the dead ball period immediately following a successful goal? I understand how the ring grasp can occur during a live ball due to an unsuccessful dunk (ball clangs off of the ring), but how can one not have a dead ball immediately after every successful dunk?

Why did the L2M Report interpretation include that the ball was dead? What's the importance of that statement? Conceding that everything else in the Report my be a valid NBA interpretation, I'm having trouble understanding the logic (not the necessarily the interpretation) of the dead ball statement. I agree that the ball is indeed dead, but why is the dead ball comment pertinent to the no technical foul interpretation?