Fun With The Division Line ...

[Camron Rust]

When the ball touches an opponent and the dribbler loses control, the dribble, by definition ends.

When the ball is batted, thrown, rolled, to a teammate, the action is considered a pass. We've considered that to be the case forever when it comes to whether we consider an act a dribble vs. a pass with respect to the illegal dribble and travel rules.

Thus, when the interrupted dribble is touched by a teammate, that seems like it would be a pass to me and should be treated as such.

So, if he ball hit a teammate who was fully in the FC and returned to the dribbler in the BC...violation. But, if the ball only contacted the dribbler, the 3-points rule is still in effect.

If you take the definition of the rule defining the end of a dribble literally, a dribble that is passed off the bounce to a teammate never ends until the ball subsequently becomes dead or is passed back to the original dribbler who then catches the ball. Taken literally, the rule says you could conceivably have all 5 offensive players with a live dribble by the literal wording of the rules. Of course, we know that is not the intent...the dribble is implied to end when the ball is passed to another player.