Dribble ...

[BillyMac]

Originally Posted by Camron Rust

If it isn't a dribble until the ball is again touched, a player starting a dribble wouldn't be able to pick up the pivot foot until the ball came back to the hand after pushing it to the floor (since the pivot foot must stay down until the dribble is started).

Disagree, maybe not in theory, but in practice. The start of a dribble and the start of a pass may legally look exactly the same, and until officials have the ability read a player's mind (intent) we have to wait to see if the "thrown" ball is touched again by the player, or by a teammate, or by an opponent.

We do know that if a player jumps to "throw" a pass and then changes his mind and decides to dribble (as evidenced by the next touch, because it may actually be a pass), then that's a illegal travel violation because the ball must be released before the pivot foot is lifted to start a dribble.