Passing ball to self

[Nevadaref]

At the heart of this is the history of the "air dribble." If one reads the NFHS handbook, he will learn that for a time period this action was allowed. The player could progress down the court while tapping the ball into the air repeatedly without allowing it to strike the floor.
This action was changed to illegal and "to the floor" is now the important part of the definition of a dribble.

As the game is now played, in order for the players to move the ball from one end of the court to the other, they must either pass or dribble the ball. Why? So that the opponents have an opportunity to obtain it. This is not american football in which players hold the ball and run with it to advance it on the field of play. In basketball, any advancement must be accompanied by the release of the ball permitting some chance that the opponent can get it. Contrast that with when a player remains in one place with the ball. Since he is not permitted to run with the ball, he is governed by the pivot foot restrictions of the traveling rule. If he wishes to move from that location while keeping the ball himself, he must dribble. If he wishes to advance it with the help of his teammates, then he must pass. There is no other method by which a team can advance the ball. It's that simple. A team can always elect to try for goal from where they currently are, but that is relinquishing possession, not advancing the ball with possession.

Therefore, if the player attempts to move the ball around on the court from one location to another, we need simply ask by what method he was attempting to do so.

1. Is he holding the ball? If yes, then he can't advance it further than permitted under the pivot foot restrictions of the traveling rule. Once those are breached, the player has traveled.

2. Has he released the ball? If he tosses it to his teammates, then he is passing. If he releases it to himself, then he must be dribbling, and that dribble must meet the definition or it is an illegal dribble.

Tossing the ball into the air and catching it is only legal per the casebook ruling if the player does not move his pivot foot, and this is precisely because the player is not attempting to advance the ball down the court.

After understanding that background, we can determine that a player tossing the ball into the air, moving to a new location based upon his pivot foot, and catching the ball without allowing it to strike the floor must be an illegal dribble because it is not a pass (definition is "to another player") and the player was not holding the ball and moving with it. Traveling prohibits "running with the ball" as in american football.