A FIBA held ball becomes an alternating-possession throw-in.

The active rulebook used here

This page applies the FIBA Official Basketball Rules 2024, version 1.0a, valid from 1 October 2024, and the matching Official Interpretations 2024, version 1.0a. It was checked on 12 August 2026, principally against Articles 12, 17, 48 and 50.

FIBA published its 2026 rulebook in July 2026, but that edition is expressly valid only from 1 October 2026. It therefore does not replace the 2024 text yet. The 2026 Article 12 procedure is materially unchanged, but an organiser may still issue competition regulations that supplement the international rules.

Firm shared grip, not a momentary touch

FIBA Article 12.1.2 requires one or more players from each team to have one or both hands firmly on the ball, with no player able to gain control without undue roughness. A clean slap, a fingertip touching the ball or a defender briefly pinning it does not by itself satisfy that test.

The timing matters. If illegal contact occurs before the opponents establish the firm tie-up, the contact can be penalised as a foul. If the tie-up is already established, later steps or a landing do not turn it into travelling, out of bounds or a backcourt violation. FIBA Interpretations 12-12 to 12-15 treat the pre-existing held ball as the decisive event.

How to decide the restart

1. Freeze the first decisive event. Was there a foul, an existing violation or a firm legal tie-up first?
2. Apply the held-ball definition. Both teams must have a firm grip and sole control must require undue roughness.
3. Confirm a jump-ball situation. A FIBA held ball is one of the situations listed in Article 12.4.
4. Check entitlement. The arrow points towards the opponents' basket of the team entitled to the next alternating-possession throw-in.
5. Place the throw-in. Use the nearest place to the situation, except directly behind the backboard. Starts of later quarters and overtimes use the centre line extended opposite the scorer's table.
6. Track how the throw-in ends. That event determines whether the arrow reverses or remains unchanged.

The arrow is not only for held balls

Article 12.4 also creates a “jump ball situation” when:

• the ball goes out of bounds and the referees are in doubt or disagree about which opponents touched it last;
• both teams violate during an unsuccessful last free throw;
• a live ball lodges between the ring and backboard, subject to the rulebook's free-throw and possession-penalty exceptions;
• the ball becomes dead while neither team has control nor an entitlement to it;
• equal penalties cancel and neither team previously had control or an entitlement; or
• the second, third or fourth quarter, or any overtime, is to start.

“Jump ball situation” is FIBA's category name. After the opening jump, it normally produces an alternating-possession throw-in, not another toss.

The first team control decides first entitlement

The game begins with one centre-circle jump ball. Under Articles 12.6.2 and 14, the team that does not gain the first team control of the live ball receives the first alternating-possession entitlement. The scorer records that entitlement by operating the arrow.

A legal tap is not necessarily team control. If a held ball or qualifying double foul occurs immediately after the tap and before either team controls the live ball, FIBA Interpretation 12-5 says the arrow cannot yet be used: another centre-circle jump ball is administered, and the elapsed game-clock time remains.

If the opening jump instead ends with a jump-ball violation, the opponents receive a throw-in. When the ball is placed at that thrower's disposal, the other team receives first arrow entitlement. At half-time the scorer physically reverses the arrow because the teams exchange baskets; the underlying entitlement does not switch to the other team.

Exactly when the arrow reverses

FIBA Articles 12.6.4 and 17.1.2 work together. The arrow reverses immediately when the alternating-possession throw-in ends. A throw-in ends when:

• the ball touches or is legally touched by any player on the court;
• the thrower's team commits a violation; or
• a live ball lodges between the ring and backboard during the throw-in.

The whistle, the referee's directional signal and placing the ball at the thrower's disposal do not themselves reverse the arrow. They begin the administration; the ending event consumes the opportunity.

A throw-in violation consumes the turn; a foul does not

If the entitled team violates during its alternating-possession throw-in—for example, the thrower steps onto the court, takes more than five seconds or otherwise violates the throw-in restrictions—Article 12.6.5 says that team loses the opportunity. The opponents receive a throw-in from the original place, and the arrow immediately reverses so those opponents also own the next alternating-possession entitlement.

A foul by either team before the start of a later quarter or overtime, or during the alternating-possession throw-in, does not consume the entitled team's turn (Article 12.6.6). Administer the foul penalty, then preserve the arrow entitlement. The resulting foul restart may replace or delay the arrow throw-in, depending on the penalty.

The arrow does not automatically create a fresh clock

Under FIBA Article 50, the shot-clock result depends on who previously controlled the ball and where the throw-in is administered:

• If the same team that had control receives the alternating-possession throw-in, the shot clock normally keeps the time that remained.
• If the other team receives a backcourt throw-in, it receives 24 seconds; for a frontcourt throw-in, it receives 14 seconds.
• After a ball lodges between the ring and backboard following contact with the ring, the offensive team receives 14 seconds if its arrow applies; the defensive team receives 24 seconds if its arrow applies.

An expired shot clock can override the arrow. FIBA Interpretations 12-26 and 12-27 say that when a shot misses the ring, the shot clock expires and a held ball then occurs, the shot-clock violation awards the ball to the defence; the arrow is irrelevant and does not change.

A wrong arrow has a narrow on-court remedy

Officials should verify entitlement with the scorer before making the ball live. If the wrong team is given an alternating-possession throw-in, it can be corrected before the ball touches or is legally touched by a player on the court.

Once that touch occurs, FIBA Interpretation 12-9 says the erroneous award cannot be corrected. The team that should have received the ball does not lose its entitlement to the next alternating-possession throw-in. A held-ball judgment or arrow entitlement is not listed as a standalone Instant Replay System trigger in FIBA Appendix F, although another independently reviewable issue on the same play may be reviewed.

The tie-up exists before the extra steps

Situation: A1 drives with the ball. B1 puts both hands firmly on it, and neither can gain sole control without roughness. A1 then takes extra steps.

FIBA 2024 ruling: held ball and an alternating-possession throw-in. FIBA Interpretation 12-23 treats the tie-up as established before what would otherwise look like travelling.

The defender loses contact before the landing

Situation: airborne A1 is legally blocked by B1, but B1 is no longer touching the ball when A1 returns to the court still holding it.

FIBA 2024 ruling: travelling, not a held ball. Interpretation 12-13 makes the continuing shared grip the decisive fact. If both still had firm hands on the ball at the landing, it would be a jump-ball situation.

The thrower uses up the arrow with a violation

Situation: Team A has the arrow. On the alternating-possession throw-in, A1 still holds the ball after five seconds.

FIBA 2024 ruling: Team B receives a throw-in from the original place. Team A has consumed its alternating-possession opportunity, so the arrow immediately reverses to Team B for the next jump-ball situation.

A foul interrupts but does not spend the entitlement

Situation: Team A has the arrow and A1 has the ball for the alternating-possession throw-in. Before the pass is legally touched inbounds, either team commits a foul.

FIBA 2024 ruling: administer the foul under its own penalty. Under Article 12.6.6, Team A keeps its next alternating-possession entitlement because the foul did not cause that opportunity to be lost.

NBA and WNBA tie-ups use live jump balls

The possession-arrow explanation above is not universal basketball law.

• NBA 2025-26: Rule 4, Section VII defines held ball; Rule 6, Section VI restarts a held ball with a jump at the nearest circle between the two involved players. The NBA does not use a possession arrow for held balls. It also treats a defender's touch that causes an airborne offensive player to return to the floor still holding the ball—otherwise a travel—as a held ball.
• WNBA 2026: Rules 4 and 6 use the same basic live-jump approach for a held ball: the two involved players jump at the nearest circle, subject to the rulebook's replacement provisions.
• NCAA men's basketball, 2026-27: the alternating-possession procedure in Rule 6 remains in use. The NCAA's October 2025 table-crew instructions say to switch the arrow when the throw-in ends or the throwing team violates, but not for a foul or an intentional kick or fist by the opponent during the throw-in. The NCAA's May 2026 approved rulings for 2026-27 did not amend this procedure. Those details should not be imported into FIBA games without checking the FIBA text.

High-school, youth and local leagues may adopt a national federation's rules or publish modifications. Identify the competition's appointed rulebook before applying either the FIBA arrow or the professional live-jump procedure.

Five shortcuts that produce the wrong ruling

• “Any two hands on the ball means held ball.” The grip must satisfy FIBA's firm-control and undue-roughness test.
• “Landing always makes it travelling first.” Not if a legal held ball was already established and the shared grip continued.
• “The arrow changes at the whistle.” It changes when the alternating-possession throw-in ends.
• “A foul during the throw-in spends the arrow.” FIBA Article 12.6.6 expressly preserves the entitlement.
• “Every tie-up goes to the arrow team.” A prior foul or violation, an unset arrow before first team control, or an expired shot clock can produce another result—and NBA/WNBA games use actual jump balls.

Governing-body sources and effective versions

• FIBA — Official Basketball Rules 2024 v1.0a, Articles 12, 17, 48 and 50 (valid 1 October 2024)
• FIBA — Official Basketball Rules Interpretations 2024 v1.0a, Interpretations 12-1 to 12-27 and 28-1
• FIBA — Official Basketball Rules 2026 v1.1, Article 12 (published July 2026; valid 1 October 2026)
• NBA — Official Rules 2025-26, Rule 4 Section VII and Rule 6 Sections V-VII
• WNBA — Official Rules 2026, Rule 4 Section VII and Rule 6 Sections V-VII
• NCAA Men's Basketball Rules Committee — 2025-26 Table Crew Reference Sheet, alternating-possession arrow
• NCAA — 2026-27 men's basketball approved rulings and points of emphasis (8 May 2026)

Checked against the active FIBA 2024 rulebook and interpretations on 12 August 2026. FIBA's published 2026 edition becomes effective on 1 October 2026. NBA, WNBA and NCAA procedures are included only as named competition variations; national federations and event regulations may add approved modifications.