Personal foul (basketball)
Players routinely initiate illegal contact to purposely affect the play, hoping it is seen as too minor to be ruled a foul.
In 1891, James Naismith's original 13 rules[1] defined a foul as: Only the fourth definition remains.
The victim of a contact foul used to be given three attempts at a free throw, and the offense retained possession of the basketball.
The NBA does not use the cylinder principle to judge contact; it only says that a player may not bend or reach in a position that is not normal (nor push, hold, and so on).
When significant[n 1] illegal contact between the ball-carrier and a defender occurs, it usually means that either: Deciding between the two is complex, partly subjective, and often controversial.
Generally, the ball-carrier committed a charge if all of the following are true: In the NBA, in contact during a move to the basket, officials do not consider the position of the defender's feet, but decide whether the defensive player's torso was set in position before the offensive player began his upward motion.
[2] An exception is that a charging foul is usually not called if the ball-handler is within a 4-foot (1.22 m) radius around the center of the basket (known in the rules as the "restricted area" and sometimes colloquially as the "smiley face"[3]).
However, a charge can be called if the offensive player receives the ball within an area close to the basket known as the "lower defensive box."
[n 2] Apart from using hands in neutral space to shield or deflect a pass or a shot, the defender uses his or her body to impede the ball-carrier's advance toward the basket.
The defender's only absolute way to achieve this is to stand directly in the ball-carrier's path and "draw a charge."
Once contact is made, the defender may fall to the ground to exaggerate the force of the collision and induce a foul to be called.
[n 3] When players are competing for a ball that goes out of bounds, and one player commits illegal but minor contact, referees often do not feel a foul is justified but resolve the situation by simply awarding possession of the ball to the other team.
After the fouled player shoots free throws, the team that was on defense is likely to gain possession of the ball.
The "Hack-a-Shaq" strategy was famously practiced against Shaquille O'Neal in view of his poor percentage.
The use of intentional fouls to prolong a game is unique to basketball; most other sports consider such maneuvers a form of unsportsmanlike conduct and impose stiffer penalties to teams that attempt them (see the professional foul and unfair act in football codes).
In the NCAA and FIBA, if a team is reduced below five players by fouling out, injury, or ejection, play continues.
This rule was invoked in an NCAA game between the Minnesota Golden Gophers and the Alabama Crimson Tide on November 25, 2017.
Alabama's entire bench was ejected, leaving the Crimson Tide with only five active players.
Alabama's Dazon Ingram fouled out at the 11:37 mark, and John Petty left the game with a sprained ankle, forcing the Tide to play the final 10:41 with three players.
This rule let Don Otten set the NBA record for personal fouls in a regular-season game.
He had eight fouls while playing for the Tri-Cities Blackhawks (now the Atlanta Hawks) against the Sheboygan Red Skins on November 24, 1949.
[8] The rule was also invoked in a game between the Los Angeles Lakers and Cleveland Cavaliers on February 5, 2014.
[9] With the Lakers down to five players due to injuries, when Robert Sacre fouled out, he remained in the game.
