Technical Fouls in A Game
By Alexandra Wade - June 26, 2023

A specific type of foul in basketball relates to activities that don’t occur in real-time. Referees use technical fouls to enforce these administrative and procedural restrictions—only technical foul results from direct contact between opposing players while the game is in progress. Technical fouls can be given to anyone on either team, including players on the court, bench players, and coaches. Referees can even penalize home crowd supporters with technical fouls, but this rarely happens.

Players and coaches can be assessed technical fouls on the court or the sidelines. They give the opposition side possession of the ball and one free throw. A player will be kicked out of the game if they receive two technical fouls in one contest. Each team is permitted a maximum number of timeouts during each half of a basketball game. A technical foul is assessed if a team has used all of its timeouts and tries to use one. A single free throw and possession of the ball for the opposing team are the results of this action in the NBA. Players are continually informed of the number of timeouts their team has to prevent a mistake of this nature.

Getty Images/ Moment/ Jose Luis Raota

Each team is permitted a maximum number of timeouts during each half of a basketball game. A technical foul is assessed if a team has used all of its timeouts and tries to use one. A single free throw and possession of the ball for the opposing team are the results of this action in the NBA. Players are frequently reminded of their team’s timeout allocation to prevent a mistake of this nature in a key circumstance. This kind of technical issue does occasionally occur, however.

When a player, coach, or team representative impedes the progress of a game, there is a delay in the game’s call. A team receives a delay of game technical if a player or coach is called for a delay of the game twice in the same game. Interfering with the ball after a successful field goal or free throw attempt, a player coming into the game with their jersey untucked, and other such infractions could delay game technical penalty.