Whistling the "T"

[M&M Guy]

Originally Posted by Scratch85

I agree with all of this. Which means (I think) that we are not required to blow the whistle when we call a T. We do blow the whistle to stop the clock and to cause a live ball to become dead.

Actually, this statement is incorrect, and perhaps the source of part of your confusion. If you look at the back of the rule book, under a page titled, "Basketball Rule Fundamentals", you'll see the statement: "An official's whistle seldom causes the ball to become dead (it is already dead)."

So, you are correct in stating the violation caused the ball to become dead. But think of the whistle more as a signal or communication device. Most of the time the official blows the whistle to let the players know the ball is now dead, so they can stop playing. It also lets the table know to stop the clock, if it is running. The other obvious communication reasons would be to let players know we are ready to start play, such as the beginning of a game or quarter, before a throw-in after a time out, and so on.

That's why there is no definitive direction in the books about when and if to blow the whistle on T's. Camron and others have given some good advice on when to blow it, and when not to. In the case of the original play, the first official correctly blew the whistle to tell the players the ball is now dead and stop playing (because of the goaltending violation). I do think the second whistle might be a little unnecessary, but it also might depend on the situation, crowd noise, player activity, etc. Most of the time, if the ball is not live, players are not playing, and the clock is not running, you would not need to blow the whistle. The exception might be in the case of an unsporting T; and that might've been the reason the second official blew the whistle - out of the simple habit of many years of blowing the whistle and forming the T as one motion.