spirit of the rule

[BillyMac]

Originally Posted by M&M Guy

"Unauthorized" leaving the court only has to do with intentionally leaving the playing court during "normal" plays; the obvious example is a player going around a screen along a line OOB, instead of stopping, or taking the longer way inbounds. Falling OOB, or momentum carrying a player OOB, has never been a violation under this rule.

I would also call the violation if the player leaves the lane under the basket to avoid a three second violation.

[Adam]

Originally Posted by BillyMac

I would also call the violation if the player leaves the lane under the basket to avoid a three second violation.

That would be a three second violation, thought.

[BillyMac]

Originally Posted by Snaqwells

That would be a three second violation.

Maybe years ago, before all the recent rules, and interpretations, about staying on the court. I definitely would have called three seconds in this situation during the years when the penalty for leaving the court was a technical foul. No way was I going to give a player a technical foul when I could get away with a three second call. But today, I'm probably going with a leaving the court violation, rather than a three second violation, even though the penalty is the same.