[Camron Rust]

A player is not dribbling and is not a dribbler during an interrupted dribble.

The OOB rules establish that concept....the ball is OOB if a dribbler steps OOB during the dribble even if they don't actually touch the ball while they are OOB. But, if it is an interrupted dribble, the ball is not OOB as long as the player returns inbounds before resuming the dribble.

When the dribble is interrupted, the player is no longer dribbling and is not a dribbler. They may resume dribbling, but they are not currently dribbling.

Additionally, they can not commit a player control foul during an interrupted dribble. As of the last few years, they can commit a team control foul which makes the result the same but the point is that they are not, by definition, dribbling if the dribble is interrupted and are not a dribbler during the interruption. If they were, it would have been a PC foul.

The 3-points rule exists to allow a player who is continuously dribbling the freedom to not worry about their specific foot/ball movement when they are near and/or crossing the line....they have to be fully across to be considered across.

All that said, one or two extra bounces doesn't mean the dribble is interrupted. There is nothing in the dribble rule that says the player must touch the ball between every bounce...even if they try but miss. An interrupted dribble is one where the ball gets away from the player. Did they have to move to go get the ball or did they just miss the dribble and continue after a whiff at the ball? I wouldn't call it an interrupted dribble unless they had to chase down the ball.


My conclusion....If it was an interrupted dribble (and it may not have been), they do not have protection of the 3-points rule and it is a backcourt violation when they again touch the ball.