OOB without authorization?

[Back In The Saddle]

With the POE this year on the offense playing oob, I got thinking about this play that a team here in our valley runs frequently.

A1 dribbles along the sideline toward his endline. He picks up his dribble at the endline, jumps oob and while in the air passes to A2 who is on the far side of the key. A1 then lands oob. He is not forced out or off-balance or any normal kind of reason for being going oob, going oob to make this pass is a part of the play.

I have heard varying opinions on whether this should be a technical foul for leaving the court for an unauthorized reason (same rule as running oob) or not. Some folks say that the player was technically inbounds when he made the pass, therefore it's legal. Some say that he's using the area oob to make plays in, therefore it's illegal. What do you think?