Dribbler goes out of bounds & is first to touch the ball again

[mbyron]

Originally Posted by RefLarry

A1 loses control of his/her dribble and A1 goes completely out of bounds. The ball remains bouncing on the floor (inbounds). A1 re-establishes both feet inbounds and is the first person to touch the ball. Is this play legal?

There is a worrisome case here, but it's not this one. The key to your case is the judgment that A1 lost control of the dribble. At that point, A1 can be OOB, return inbounds (something in and nothing out), and then touch the ball legally.

The worrisome case is the one where A1 does NOT lose control of his dribble, but sees that he will go OOB. He stops dribbling, steps OOB, steps back in, and resumes dribbling. That's an OOB violation on A1, who retains player control while dribbling.