Which of the following is a correct statement regarding violations in basketball?

Correct — C. FIBA's Official Basketball Rules 2024, Article 24, say a dribble ends when the player touches the ball with both hands simultaneously or lets it come to rest in one or both hands.

Option (c) is that rule in short. Once both hands touch the ball, the dribble is over, and the player may not dribble again unless control is lost in between, to a shot, an opponent's touch, or a pass or fumble that touches another player.

Why the others are wrong

• (a)
  A player may stay in the restricted area for 5 seconds. — The restricted-area limit is 3 seconds. Five seconds is the separate closely guarded rule: a player holding the ball with an opponent within 1 m must pass, shoot or dribble in 5 seconds.
• (b)
  A team must shoot the ball within 8 seconds of play. — 8 seconds is the time to bring the ball from the backcourt into the frontcourt (Article 28). The time to attempt a shot is 24 seconds (Article 29).
• (d)
  A player remains in play while standing on sideline. — FIBA's court is limited by a boundary line of endlines and sidelines, which are not part of the court. A player touching the floor on or outside that line is out-of-bounds.

Basketball's time rules each guard a different phase of play. FIBA's 2024 rules set 3 seconds in the restricted area, 5 seconds for a closely guarded player, 8 seconds to reach the frontcourt and 24 seconds to attempt a shot.

The ball-handling rules close a dribble once both hands touch the ball, and the boundary rules put any player standing on the line out-of-bounds.

Key facts

• FIBA Article 24: a dribble ends when the player touches the ball with both hands simultaneously or lets it come to rest in one or both hands.
• FIBA Article 26: no more than 3 consecutive seconds in the opponents' restricted area while the team controls the ball in the frontcourt.
• FIBA Articles 28 and 29: 8 seconds to take the ball into the frontcourt, and 24 seconds to attempt a shot.
• FIBA Article 23: a player touching the floor on or outside the boundary line is out-of-bounds.

Common traps

• Confusing the 5-second closely guarded rule with the 3-second restricted-area rule.
• Reading the 8-second rule as a shooting limit, when shooting is governed by the 24-second shot clock.

No directly related past PYQ was found.