A technical foul is any one of several contact, administrative or unsportsmanlike fouls that players and coaches can commit during the course of a basketball game, according to the National Collegiate Athletic Association. Technical fouls usually carry a heavier penalty than standard fouls due to the severity of the offense. Understanding technical fouls can help players and coaches avoid them, which will help their teams win.
Administrative Technical Fouls
These types of technical fouls are used to penalize teams, coaches and players for failing to follow certain guidelines before and during the game. For example, coaches must provide a list of players and jersey numbers to the official scorekeeper at least 10 minutes before the start of the game. Failure to do so results in an administrative technical foul. Other administrative technical fouls include failure by players to report to the scorer's table in order to substitute into the game and failure by the coach to indicate to the official scorer which players will start the game.
Unsportsmanlike Technical Fouls
This category of technical fouls covers players' and coaches' behavior during and immediately following the basketball contest. Players and coaches may not taunt, bait or otherwise behave in an unsportsmanlike manner to players or coaches on the opposing team, as well as the referees. Some examples of unsportsmanlike behavior include constant complaining about a call or series of calls by the official; using profanity or vulgarity directed at another player, coach or official; and inciting the crowd to react negatively to what is happening on the court. Officials in college and the NBA are instructed to give a warning to coaches for unsportsmanlike conduct before assessing a technical foul.
Penalties
In high school, all technical fouls are penalized by awarding the opposing team two free throws and the ball out of bounds at the half court line. In college, two free throws are also awarded to the opposing team, but the procedure for putting the ball back in play is different. The ball is awarded to the last team to have possession when the technical foul occurred. For instance, if the offending team had the ball when a technical foul occurred, the opposing team would shoot two free throws, then the offending team would receive the ball out of bounds for a throw-in. The NBA handles the resumption-of-play the same as college, but the offending team only receives one free throw as a penalty.
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