NBA "and one" rule - an edge case

Question

My question is very similar to this one, although it is a little different and may have a different answer. (Also, I think the answer to that question somewhat misses the point).

Consider the following sequence of events:

1. an offensive player is fouled while driving to the basket,
2. the offensive player travels (because of the foul),
3. the offensive player shoots the ball and it goes in.

This occurred in a recent game I was watching (the foot came down just a fraction of a second before the ball left his hand, so it's easy to understand why the refs may have missed it or chose not to call it).

I can see three potential answers.

• This is a non-shooting foul. Even though continuation would have been granted, he traveled first and thus no shot legally occurred.
• Shooting foul, basket does not count, 2 shots are awarded. Since continuation is granted, and the offensive player is trying to shoot, it's a shooting foul. Since the shot was not legal, the basket doesn't count.
• Shooting foul, basket counts, 1 shot is awarded. Similar to above, but for some reason the basket counts.

I get that this is an edge-case and might not come up very often. I watch a lot of basketball and have never seen this come up (unless the third proposed answer is correct).

An answer with a specific example where this occurred would be particularly welcome.

Answer 1

I believe this is at least mostly answerable from the rulebook, particularly post-Harden rule. Two clarifications that don't actually answer (but make things more clear, I hope, by eliminating some murkiness), then the answer.

First: adding the definition of "the gather" into the rulebook made this a bit more clear, I believe, but didn't change anything.

Second: in this case, we are clearly talking about drives only, and specifically drives that finish in the lower defensive box (the area past the bottom of the free throw circle, and between the two marks three feet on either side of the lane). Per the video on continuations, post-Harden Rule (i.e., summer 2017) at least, only fouls occuring on shots that end up there are allowed to be treated as fouls when occurring prior to the actual shot - all other shots must actually begin shooting, not just gathering the ball, in order to count as a continuation foul.

---

With that said: if the player travels, then the shot will not count. The rulebook (rule 12, specifically) is specific in when it allows for the shot to count:

one free throw attempt if the personal foul is on the defender and there is a successful field goal or free throw on the play.

The field goal must be successful - which means no other rule violation occurred (for example, if the offensive player committed a foul, the basket would not count).

Per the video earlier, though, it would count as a shooting foul - the shot simply would not be counted as successful, so the player would get 2 shots. The point at which the foul becomes a shooting foul is when he gathers his dribble - anything after that is irrelevant to the shooting/not shooting element.

Answer 2

Not an authoritative answer, due to the lack of a source. But according to the question/answer posted here, I think the answer is "the shot does not count, but two (or three, when relevant) shots will be awarded. This answer makes the most "logical" sense in my opinion. In practice, it seems that the basket, and one free throw, is typically awarded - unless the travel is blatant.

Answer 3

There is no travel call after a whistle for the foul. The question of whether the basket counts depends on whether the ref considers the shot to be a continuation of the move the shooter was making at the time he was fouled. (That's why the NBA continuation rule is relevant.) If the move was a continuation, the shot counts and the shooter gets one free throw for the foul. If the shot was not a continuation, then it isn't a shooting foul, the basket does not count, and free throws depend on whether the fouling team is in the penalty.