How much can ball handler use his arm?

[Adam]

Originally Posted by Travelling Man

"mens rea" or gulity mind. As officials we are tasked with discerning what the intent is when we see a player doing this. From my perch the dribbler who is "warding off" with their off arm is usually incapable of executing sufficiently (or more appropriately not having been coached on how to) use effective dribble drive moves to evade the pesky defender. I whistle it--and I've not had a coach question the whistle--they usually shout to their player "just drive past him or pass it".

No, we aren't tasked with any such thing. Intent means nothing on this play. All that matters is what actually happens, not what was intended by either of the players.

Pushing or impeding the defender in this manner isn't legal, even if the dribbler is merely trying to give the defender a better look at his new ink.