The ball is not out when it crosses the line. It is out when it touches something out of bounds.

The ruleset and date used here

This page applies FIBA's full-court, five-player Official Basketball Rules 2024 v1.0a, especially Articles 2.5.1, 10–12, 17, 22–24 and 28–29 plus Appendix F and the 2024 Official Interpretations. That edition took effect on 1 October 2024 and remains the current FIBA rulebook on 26 August 2026.

FIBA has published its 2026 rulebook, but that book is expressly valid only from 1 October 2026. Its Article 23 retains the same core definition and causation wording. Until that effective date, a competition using the current FIBA code should apply the 2024 edition. The NBA variation below uses the separate 2025–26 NBA Official Rules; NCAA, NFHS, WNBA, 3x3 and local rules are outside this page's controlling scope.

What actually makes the ball out of bounds

FIBA Article 2.5.1 says the sidelines and endlines are not part of the court. Article 23.1.2 makes the ball out when it touches:

• A player or any other person who is out of bounds.
• The floor or any object above, on or outside a boundary line.
• A backboard support, the back of a backboard, or any object above the court.

The vertical plane of a boundary is not on that list. A pass or loose ball can cross that plane and return without a whistle if it touches nothing out of bounds. The front face of the backboard is also a playable surface; it is the support and back of the board that Article 23 specifically makes out.

A legal save depends on the player's last floor contact

Under FIBA Article 23.1.1, a player is out when any part of the body contacts the floor, or an object other than a player, above, on or outside the boundary line. Article 11 adds the airborne test: a player in the air keeps the status of the place where that player last touched the floor.

• A player who jumps from in bounds may catch or tap the ball and release it before landing out of bounds.
• A player who jumps from out of bounds remains out while airborne. If that player touches the ball before re-establishing an in-bounds floor position, the ball is out.
• A player who catches the ball in the air from an in-bounds take-off causes it to be out upon landing on the line or outside while still holding it.

“Last touch” has one important second test

FIBA Article 23.2.1 normally assigns responsibility to the last player to touch, or be touched by, the ball before it goes out—even if the ball then strikes the floor, a spectator, a substitute or another non-player object. Intent, control and the force of the deflection do not replace that touch test.

Article 23.2.2 controls when the ball's out-of-bounds contact is an active player whose location is on or outside the line: that out-of-bounds player causes the ball to go out. So “who touched it last before it crossed the line?” can be the wrong question. Officials must identify what or whom the ball touched when it became out.

An active player, substitute and referee are not interchangeable

• Out-of-bounds active player: if the ball touches that player, the player causes it out under Article 23.2.2.
• Substitute or bench person: on ordinary incidental contact, the ball is out but the last active player to touch the ball causes it out. FIBA Interpretation 23-4 applies this result when a dribble rebounds into a seated substitute.
• Referee: Article 11.2 treats a touch on a referee as a touch on the floor at the referee's location. A referee standing in bounds does not make the ball out; one standing out of bounds does.
• Spectator, ceiling or loose object outside the court: on an ordinary boundary contact, the ball is out and Article 23.2.1 sends responsibility back to the last player touch.

How to analyse a close boundary play

1. Check for an earlier whistle or offence. A foul, travelling call, kicked-ball violation or other stoppage may determine the penalty before the later boundary contact matters.
2. Find the out-of-bounds contact. Crossing the plane alone is not enough.
3. Classify that contact. Was it an active player who was out, or the floor, a non-player, an official or another object?
4. Fix player location. For an airborne player, use the last place that player touched the floor.
5. Assign causation. Apply Article 23.2.2 for an out-of-bounds active player; otherwise apply the last-player-touch rule in Article 23.2.1.
6. Choose the restart and clocks. Throw-in place, possession arrow, shot clock, eight-second count and any late-game advancement must all come from the active ruleset.
7. Use replay only if authorised. Review is a competition procedure, not an automatic right on every close call.

The throw-in usually returns near the exit point

FIBA Articles 17.2.2 and 22.2 award the opponents of the player who caused the violation a throw-in from the place nearest to the infraction, except directly behind the backboard. The throw-in then has its own five-second, movement and defender restrictions; see the inbound pass and five-second rules.

The clock treatment depends on whether possession changes:

• If the defence knocks the ball out and the offence keeps it, the shot clock normally keeps the time remaining. In the backcourt, the same team's eight-second count also continues with the time remaining (Articles 28.1.3 and 29.2.2).
• If the team in control causes the ball out and the opponents receive a new possession, Article 29.2.3 resets the shot clock to 24 seconds for a backcourt throw-in or 14 seconds for a frontcourt throw-in.
• With 2:00 or less in the fourth quarter or any overtime, a team entitled to a backcourt throw-in after its own time-out may choose the original backcourt place or the prescribed frontcourt throw-in line. For an advanced throw-in after an out-of-bounds play, Article 29.2.5 keeps 13 seconds or less and sets 14 when 14 or more had shown.

FIBA uses the arrow when the officials cannot decide

Under FIBA Article 12.4, if the ball goes out and the referees are in doubt or disagree about which opponent last touched it, a jump ball situation occurs. In FIBA that phrase does not normally mean another centre-circle toss. Articles 12.5 and 12.6 award the next alternating-possession throw-in from the place nearest to where the situation occurred, except directly behind the backboard, and then reverse the arrow when the throw-in ends.

Article 23.2.3 supplies another boundary-related exception: if a player moves out of bounds or into that player's backcourt during a held ball, it is a jump ball situation. Officials do not convert that held ball into an ordinary last-touch award.

FIBA review has a time window and a separate challenge route

Replay applies only in games using FIBA's Instant Replay System. Under Appendix F.3.2, referees may use it to identify the player who caused the ball out when the game clock shows 2:00 or less in the fourth quarter or any overtime. Official Interpretation F-3.2.21 confirms that the same referee-initiated review is not available at 5:53 in the first quarter.

A head coach's challenge is different. In an IRS game, Appendix F.4 allows the coach to challenge an eligible out-of-bounds decision at any time; the 2024 FIBA code grants one challenge per game whether successful or not. A ruling changes only on clear and conclusive visual evidence. Without an authorised review, the officials must use their court ruling or the Article 12.4 jump-ball procedure.

Three NBA rules should not be imported into FIBA games

The 2025–26 NBA Official Rules share the broad boundary and last-touch principles, but differ in material details:

• Unknown or simultaneous touch: NBA Rule 8, Section II(d) uses an actual jump ball between the two involved players in the nearest restraining circle when opponents touch simultaneously, the official is in doubt, or officials disagree, subject to listed exceptions. FIBA uses the alternating-possession arrow.
• Hand in contact with the ball: NBA Rule 8, Section II(c) expressly says that when an opponent hits the part of a player's hand that is in contact with the ball and causes the ball out, the team of the player holding it keeps possession. This is an NBA rule, not a universal slogan to apply without checking the governing code.
• Replay trigger: NBA Rule 14 says a coach's challenge is the only way to trigger review of an out-of-bounds violation at any point in the game. If a team's first challenge succeeds it receives a second challenge; that procedure is not the FIBA one-challenge rule.

The airborne save is legal

Situation: A1 jumps from inside the sideline, catches a loose ball above the out-of-bounds floor, passes it back onto the court, and then lands outside.

FIBA 2024 ruling: play continues. Article 11 keeps A1's in-bounds status while airborne, and the ball never touched anything out before A1 released it. The decisive facts are the in-bounds take-off and release before landing.

The defender's foot is on the line

Situation: A1, holding the ball near the sideline, presses the ball against B1 while B1 has one foot on the boundary line.

FIBA 2024 ruling: B1 causes the ball out, so Team A receives the throw-in nearest the exit point with the shot-clock time remaining. FIBA Interpretation 23-3 makes the ball-to-player contact decisive. If A1's body merely touched B1 and the ball did not, Interpretation 23-2 says play would continue.

A substitute is struck after the dribbler's touch

Situation: A1's dribble rebounds high, touches B6's knee while B6 is seated on the substitution chair, and returns towards the court.

FIBA 2024 ruling: the ball became out when it touched B6, but A1 caused it out and Team B receives the throw-in. FIBA Interpretation 23-4 treats the substitute as the out-of-bounds person and looks back to A1 as the last active player touch.

The officials cannot separate two fingertips

Situation: A1 and B1 contest a loose ball at the sideline. It goes out, and after conferring the referees remain in doubt about which opponent touched it last.

FIBA 2024 ruling: Article 12.4 creates a jump ball situation. The team favoured by the arrow receives the throw-in nearest the incident and the arrow reverses when that alternating-possession throw-in ends. Under NBA 2025–26 Rule 8, the same unresolved play normally produces an actual jump ball between A1 and B1.

The hand-on-ball result is NBA-specific

Situation: in an NBA game, A1 has a hand on the ball. B1 hits that part of A1's hand and the ball goes directly out.

NBA 2025–26 ruling: Team A retains possession under Rule 8, Section II(c). The decisive fact is that the struck part of A1's hand was in contact with the ball. This case should not be announced as the ruling for every basketball code.

Last touch does not erase a foul or earlier violation

An out-of-bounds outcome matters only if that is the controlling stoppage. FIBA Article 10.3 makes the ball dead when a referee blows the whistle. If illegal contact, travelling, deliberately kicking the ball or another violation is judged first, the officials administer that rule's penalty rather than treating the later bounce out as a fresh last-touch decision.

This distinction also matters on review. Replay authority is limited to the matters listed in the applicable appendix; an out-of-bounds review is not general authority to re-officiate every event visible in the sequence.

Five claims that are too broad

• “The whole ball crossed the sideline.” There is no football-style plane test. Contact makes the ball out.
• “The defender knocked it loose, so the offence keeps it.” A later touch by the offensive player can give the opponents the throw-in.
• “Touching a player who is standing out makes you out.” Not under FIBA; player-to-player body contact is excluded from the player's out-of-bounds definition.
• “The hand is part of the ball everywhere.” The NBA has an express hand-on-ball boundary provision. Do not assume identical wording in another code.
• “Officials can always go to replay.” FIBA and NBA use different triggers, time limits and challenge procedures, and many games have no replay system.

Governing-body sources and effective versions

• FIBA — Official Basketball Rules 2024 v1.0a, valid 1 October 2024: Articles 2.5.1, 10–12, 17, 22–24, 28–29 and Appendix F
• FIBA — Official Basketball Rules Interpretations 2024 v1.0a: Article 23 cases 23-1 to 23-4 and Appendix F replay cases
• FIBA — Official Basketball Rules 2026 v1.1, valid from 1 October 2026: future effective date and Article 23
• NBA — 2025–26 Official Rules: Rule 8 Sections I–II and Rule 14

Checked on 26 August 2026 against the current FIBA 2024 rulebook and interpretations, the future-dated FIBA 2026 rulebook, and the NBA 2025–26 rulebook. This page uses FIBA as its baseline. Competition regulations and national federation adaptations may supplement that baseline; NCAA, NFHS, WNBA, 3x3, youth and local games should be checked against their appointed rules.