dunking in the warmups

[Mark T. DeNucci, Sr.]

The prohibition of dunking a dead ball was adopted by the NBCoUS&C (now the NFHS and NCAA Men's Basketball Rules Committees) back in the late 1960s: The rule originally prohibited the dunking of the ball during the game and pre-game dunking was allowed. The rule changed in the early 1970s so that dunking a live ball was allowed and dunking a dead ball was not allowed. The reason for not allowing the ball to be dunked in both cases was a safety rule.

MTD, Sr.

[Raymond]

Originally Posted by Mark T. DeNucci, Sr.

... The rule changed in the early 1970s so that dunking a live ball was allowed and dunking a dead ball was not allowed. The reason for not allowing the ball to be dunked in both cases was a safety rule.

MTD, Sr.

It wasn't the early 70's that the rule was changed, it was 1976. I remember Marques Johnson of UCLA being the first great college dunker after the rule change.

[Mark T. DeNucci, Sr.]

Originally Posted by BadNewsRef

It wasn't the early 70's that the rule was changed, it was 1976. I remember Marques Johnson of UCLA being the first great college dunker after the rule change.

BNR:

Give me a break, I am 63 and started officiating basketball in 1971; I was writing from memory and without climbing up into the attic to look up the exact year, so please do not fault me for not listing the correct part of that decade.

MTD, Sr.

[APG]

The only reasonable reason for the rule today is to protect the basket from damage...especially since no level, except for the schools in the Power 5 conferences, are going to have a standby basket ready. I saw this play out at a local AAU tournament 2 weeks ago.

I also laugh at the "intimidation" reasoning. If a team is "intimidated" by the fact that the other team is dunking during pregame...well they've lost the game already. With that reasoning, let's just ban dunking from the game entirely cause the other team might get scared.

[constable]

I still contend that there is no reason to ban dunking in the warm up. Ban hanging on the rim- absolutely but dunking as a whole is unnecessary.

[JRutledge]

Well another reason is because players will try this that cannot dunk. There was kid from my area that died trying to dunk but fell on his head (the incident I believe happen in an AAU game in North Carolina). Instead of warming up, they try to dunk and cannot actually dunk, so they might miss and hang on the rim. And unless you have sat around at a high school waiting to replace a rim because a player tried to dunk that couldn't, that is your answer as well.

Peace

[Raymond]

Originally Posted by constable

I still contend that there is no reason to ban dunking in the warm up. Ban hanging on the rim- absolutely but dunking as a whole is unnecessary.

So we should spend warm-ups scrutinizing if they hung on the rim or not?

To me it's simple, stay off the rim during warm-ups. Players who come close get my standard warning, "don't force me to make a decision."

[so cal lurker]

Originally Posted by BadNewsRef

So we should spend warm-ups scrutinizing if they hung on the rim or not?

To me it's simple, stay off the rim during warm-ups. Players who come close get my standard warning, "don't force me to make a decision."

Let's make it easy . . . you can dunk pregame, but if you miss the dunk, then it's a T!

[so cal lurker]

Originally Posted by APG

The only reasonable reason for the rule today is to protect the basket from damage...especially since no level, except for the schools in the Power 5 conferences, are going to have a standby basket ready. I saw this play out at a local AAU tournament 2 weeks ago.

Personally, I think the reason the rule remains has nothing to do with injuries or rim damage. Those player who can't dunk are trying to do it every day before practice on those very same rims (and even in the gym before the refs walk in). It is hard to damage a modern spring-loaded snap back rim -- the kids who can't dunk or can barely dunk aren't putting anyhwere near the stress that NBA and college players are when they dunk. So, my expectation is that while there may be some concern about damage or injuries (especally as it pertains to schools with older equipment), the major reason the rule is there is that it's been there and there is no one clamoring to change it.

[Raymond]

Originally Posted by so cal lurker

Personally, I think the reason the rule remains has nothing to do with injuries or rim damage. Those player who can't dunk are trying to do it every day before practice on those very same rims (and even in the gym before the refs walk in). It is hard to damage a modern spring-loaded snap back rim -- the kids who can't dunk or can barely dunk aren't putting anyhwere near the stress that NBA and college players are when they dunk. So, my expectation is that while there may be some concern about damage or injuries (especally as it pertains to schools with older equipment), the major reason the rule is there is that it's been there and there is no one clamoring to change it.

All it takes is one incident. I've had a game delayed b/c players were dunking before we came out and someone knocked the basket out of off kilter.

[Raymond]

Originally Posted by Mark T. DeNucci, Sr.

BNR:

Give me a break, I am 63 and started officiating basketball in 1971; I was writing from memory and without climbing up into the attic to look up the exact year, so please do not fault me for not listing the correct part of that decade.

MTD, Sr.

I'll be 51 next week, don't have an attic, and didn't start officiating until I was 37 years old. But I remember the rule changing, and when, b/c Bill Walton and David Thompson were not dunking when they were in college.