[mick]

Unauthorized Leaving the Court by the book:

2002-03 Rule 10-3-4

2003-04 Rule 10-3-3

2005-06 Rule 9-3-2


From what I gather, the intent of 9-3-2 is to make parts of Old 10-3-3 a more practical rule. [*][New 10-3-3 now only says "A player shall not ...Delay returning after legally being out of bounds."]
The "Leaving the Court" cases, that I have just reread (... since 2001), all emphasize the penalty being imposed on the presumedly, unintended Offensive advantage.

That is not to say that the Defense is allowed to leave the court, because neither the Old 10-3-4, nor the Old 10-3-3, offer/imply any words, or cases, to the effect that this is a rule for the Offense only.

I gather that the intent is to merely keep the players between the lines so as to avoid the dreaded, unintended advantage/disadvantage. ...In my opinion.
mick

I await the application to the Defense on this rule, ...where A3 runs out of bounds and B3 follows....
Is this a double violation? Apparently not since the ball becomes dead when the Offensive player steps out.