Traveling?

[Mark Padgett]

Originally posted by Suppref
Ball is on the floor, A1 has his hand on top of the ball with one knee on the floor, with his hand still on the ball, he stands up then picks up the ball and 1) dribbles, 2) passes or 3) shoots. Any, or all of these legal?

Same situation only instead of one hand he has two hands on top of the ball.

Is this contact with the ball considered control? We know if the player picks the ball up first he can't stand up, but in this situation he doesn't "pick up" the ball. Any thoughts?

The rule is that if he is on the floor and holding the ball, then sets the ball down, then stands up, then picks the ball up, it's traveling. This rule is in the book to prevent a player from circumventing the violation where he would just simply stand up while holding the ball.

If you feel having one or two hands on top of the ball while on the floor puts that player in player control, then you have a travel. However, remember that the definition of player control is "holding or dribbling a live ball inbounds", so it would seem to me that having a hand (or two) on top of a ball that is resting on the floor is not the same as holding it. To hold it, I would think it would have to be between your hands or resting on one or both hands.

If the situation was exactly as you described it, and the player had never held the ball while on the floor before just having his hand or hands on top of it, I have a no call.