No Five Seconds?
 

Coming from the naivete section of the nosebleed section of the stands ... is there no closely-guarded 5 seconds call in the NBA? At the ends of some of these playoff games, guys are holding the ball with someone pressed against them and the clock ticking waaaay down.

Is the 24-second clock is the driver here, or is it because it's simply become so customary, nobody's going to blow a whistle if, say, LeBron simply holds the ball in outstretched arm for 15 seconds while a much smaller player reaches in vain but doesn't want to commit a foul. No doubt it gets the whistle in NFHS.

There is no five second closely guarded rule in the NBA. The closest rule is the five second back to basket count...a player with the ball in his frontcourt below the free throw line extended may not dribble the ball with his back or side to the basket for longer than five seconds. The count ends when he goes above the FT extended, the dribble ends, or the defense deflects the ball away.

There's no need for a closely guarded count in the NBA because the shot clock is 24 seconds...plus the game is a lot quicker than other levels.

Suspected as much. Thanks for the straight scoop.

AKA the Charles Barkley rule. ;)

I've heard a variety of players...Charles Barkley and Marc Jackson being the two that come up the most often.

It's always hilarious when a player gets called for this violation...and the player and announcers are baffled.