When a player stops their dribble in basketball, they could only move their established pivot foot. In this position, they can only choose to shoot the ball or pass. If they pick up their pivot foot it’s a travel, and if they dribble again it’s a double dribble. But what happens if a teammate decided to pick up their teammate after their dribble? Is this possible?
According to Section XII—Illegal Assist in Scoring in the NBA rule book, it says “a player may not assist a teammate to gain height while attempting to score.” This means carrying a teammate to help them out of a bad position is not allowed. This is also a rule in high school and college basketball.
What Happens If A Teammate Carries Another Player In a Game?
In the NBA this is considered a turnover, the other team will get the ball. In the NCAA this is a two shot technical free throw which means the other team gets to take two shots and then they get the ball back. So the next time you get the idea to hoist up a teammate that has stopped their dribble, remember that it’s not allowed and you could end up turning the ball over.
As you can see in this video, which seems like a high school or college game, the teammate tries to assist on this players dunk (which missed), but regardless if it went in or not, the ref blew the whistle. What the call ended up being, we don’t know.
Is There Any Case Where You Could Move After You Stop Dribbling?
So now that we know you can’t get carried once you stop your dribble, you may be wondering if there is any possible way you could move again after you dribble? The only way you could move again after you stop your dribble is if the defense knocks the ball out of your hands. If this happens, you are allowed to pick up the ball and dribble again.
Can You Do This By Throwing The Ball Off Of The Defender?
You can’t throw the ball off another player in order to get your dribble back, but there are a few instances where throwing the ball off of another player is possible. The first one is inbounding the ball. If you’re inbounding the ball, if the defense is turned around, you could throw it off of their back and then retrieve the ball.
The second way is when you’re falling out of bounds with the ball. While you’re falling, you could throw it off the defenders legs and make the ball go out on them instead. This is done a lot on all levels of basketball.
Conclusion
I hope this blog post helped answer your question as to whether or not you could carry a teammate who stopped their dribble in basketball. Although it would be interesting to see this happen in a game, it’s not possible, and if you tried you wouldn’t get away with it.
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