What can you do?
 

Player A is dribbling the basketball ... goes to pick it up but muffs it or fumbles it and ball falls back to the ground ... what can the dribbler do from this point that is legal?

Pass or shoot (as long as no other player touched the ball). They cannot dribble again.

Peace

They can pick it up but they can not dribble again. They can even move their feet to get to the ball...can't travel without holding the ball.

The answer is that this player may recover the fumble without violating.

This is covered in the following case book play:

4.15.4 SITUATION D: While dribbling: (a) A1 bats the ball over the head of an opponent, runs around the opponent, bats the ball to the floor and continues to dribble; (b) the ball bounces away but A1 is able to get to it and continues to dribble; (c) the ball hits A1's foot and bounces away but A1 is able to overtake and pick it up; or (d) A1 fumbles the ball in ending the dribble so that A1 must run to recover it. RULING: Violation in (a), because the ball was touched twice by A1's hand(s) during a dribble, before it touched the floor. In (b), even though the dribble was interrupted it has not ended and A1 may continue the dribble. In (c), the dribble ended when A1 caught the ball; and it ended in (d) when it was fumbled. Even though the dribble has ended in (c) and (d), A1 may recover the ball. (9-5)

After recovering the fumble the player's actions are governed by the rules as usual.

He can fumble dribble fumble, but he can't dribble fumble dribble. I heard that once in camp and it's stuck with me since.

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He can also request a timeout. I know this is a minor point, but many times when this happens, he finds himself surrounded by opponents.

That is true.

Peace

Ya' know, Rut - in lower level games, what a player in that situation does most is just sit there doing nothing. Then. depending on his location, either a 3 second, a 5 second or a 10 second violation occurs. Or else, the clock just runs out for the quarter. So, I suppose, "doing nothing" should be included in the listed options. If there's just a few seconds left in the period and there's no defensive pressure, and he's not in the lane or in the back court, that might be the best thing to do.

Seems strange to conclude that "doing nothing" might sometimes be the most productive thing to do.

I wish that were true for the federal government. ;)