Using your head is perfectly fine in futbol, and the reasoning is because you can’t use your hands, so your head is the only other alternative. But how about basketball? Does it make sense to use your head during a basketball game?
Since you can use your hands, using your head in basketball serves absolutely zero purpose. Hitting the ball with your head won’t result in a made shot and will likely end up in the other team getting the ball. This is the main reason why you’ll never see a basketball player use their head.
The only time you’ll ever see the ball hit someone in the head is if it’s accidental. Sometimes players throw hard passes that aren’t very accurate and it ends up hitting a defender or teammate in the head.
Has Anyone Every Scored a Basket With Their Head?
Surprisingly I was able to find an instance where a player used their head to score a basket. But like I said above, sometimes players throw inaccurate passes that aren’t intended to hit someone in the head. This was the case for Jordan Mickey of Euroleague team BC Khimki who had a pass go off of his head and into the basket.
Marc Gasol was also able to score the ball with his head. His was actually on purpose. Although he did it on purpose it wasn’t during actual playing time. There was a foul called, the ball bounced off the rim and he managed to head the ball and score a basket.
Has There Ever Been an Instance Where a Player Has Used Their Head For Basketball (On Purpose)?
The only time I can think of a player using their head in basketball purposefully was Steve Nash in the dunk contest “heading” an alley-oop to Amare Stoudemire. Amare threw the ball up, Steve Nash headed it up in the air and Amare threw down a 360 dunk.
This was a beautiful pass by Nash, and was spot on. However, in a game, it would be very hard for Nash to do this effectively without getting the ball stolen, or swatted down on the attempt.
Are You Allowed To Bounce The Ball Of Someones Head To Dribble Again?
When it comes to using your own head, your options are limited, but how about using someone else’s head to your advantage? Is this possible? You may have seen many street ball players stop their dribble, proceed to throw the ball off of someones head and begin their dribble again. But it’s called “street ball” for a reason.
Jason Richardson (former NBA player) did it in an All-Star game with no repercussions, but that’s because it was an all-star game. If done in true competition, it would most likely be a technical or personal foul.
The one time I could think of where you could get away with bouncing the ball off of someones head is if you’re fading out of bounds with the ball in your hands and you try and throw it off of the opposing player, trying to regain possession, only to accidentally hit him or her in the head.
In Summary
In short, heading the ball to score in basketball is pretty much useless being you get to use your hands. When it comes to all other aspects of the game using your head is never necessary.
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