I have seen previous posts on this but this scenario just happened in a game and I am not sure if he can be categorized into this. Here is the scenario:

The player is dribbling down court. He loses control of the ball all by himself. The ball is about to trickle out of bounds. The player manages to keep the ball in bounds by running after it without touching the boundary. However the momentum carries him past the line. The player then comes back in bounds and touches the ball. Is this legal?

You cannot go out of bounds <i>while</i> you are dribbling (i.e. step on the line while you are dribbling, but not touching the ball).

However, you can <i>lose</i> the ball (i.e. on an attempt to stop it from going OOB), step OOB, and come back inbounds to recover the ball.

The only requirement is that you are NOT touching OOB when you touch the ball. That is, you have to be touching inbounds (or have last touched inbounds if you are airborne).

There is no requirement to have two feet "established" back in bounds as some fans/coaches/players believe.

There's also NO requirement that someone else be the first to touch the ball before the player who save it can touch it.

This is even if no one touches the player? The player lost the ball on their own accord. I mean this is a very subjective term "lose". To me this is almost like a person dribbling who is tip toeing the line. Their body is about to go out of bounds so they decide to "lose" the ball. They can go and retrieve it after stepping out?

Why not? Can you think of or find a rule that says they can't? It's perfectly legal - as long as they meet the requirements Brad already listed...

The rule that I am referring to is that losing the ball is not an acceptable thing. The player must be still considered in the act of dribbling. And since the player is in the act of dribbling the player is considered out of bounds even if the ball is not in contact with the player while the player is out of bounds.

I don't have my book with me (just wasting time here at work; lol), but.......

If a dribbler "loses the ball", I'm assuming that we're talking about an interrupted dribble. During an interrupted dribble, the dribbler is allowed to step out of bounds, then step back inbounds, and regain the dribble.

What constitutes an "interrupted dribble"? Does there need to be another player there to interrupt the dribble or can a player interrupt the dribble without any outside influence.

There's no need for another player to contact the ball in order to create an interrupted dribble.

Anyone have their rule book handy?

So let me ask you this. If a player is tip toeing the line and knows he is going out of bounds. He then purposely leaves the ball in bounds, then his body goes OOB and then comes back to retrieve the ball. This is by your definition an interrupted dribble and therefore should be legal right?

First of all - that's not a rule...losing the ball may very well be unaccaptable to a coach or player, but there's no rule aboutit...and the player is not in the act of dribbling - it is an interrupted dribble...here's the definition: "an interrupted dribble occurs when the ball is loose after deflecting off the dribbler or after it momentarily gets away from the dribble"...so we have an interrupted dribble in your play...

Also from the rule book: the ball shall be out of bounds when it touches a player who is out of bounds, any other person, the floor, or any object on or outside a boundary, the supports of a backboard, or the ceiling, overhead equipment or supports...a player shall be considered oob when he or she touches the floor or any object other than a player on our outside a boundary line...

SO...the player went oob, BUT is now back on the court and is no longer oob...the ball was NEVER oob...so again - what has been done that is illegal? Answer: nothing...it's a legal play - play on...

But I thought there was a rule that you cannot dribble and touch the OOB line even if the ball is not in contact with your hand at that second. If so in this case, an interrupted dribble is still a dribble and therefore doesn't it follow the same rules.

No it doesn't...an interrupted dribble changes several things and that is one of them...you can't have a time-out during an interrupted dribble...you can't have a player control foul during an i.d....and the player can go oob and then come back in and be the first to touch during an i.d....

Is there a website or rule book that says that on an interrupted dribble you can come back in bounds? I have seen the other things such as the three second rule, the control foul, and the timeout but I have never seen anything about how OOB rules apply.

Don't know...got a casebook??? Check it...the key is that the rule doesn't say you can't...and in the situation described, the player was inbounds when they touched the ball again, and was not dribbling the ball when they went oob, so we got nothing...