Foul (basketball)

A Hartford Hawks men's basketball player fouls a Penn State Nittany Lions men's basketball player during a field goal attempt in 2011.

A Penn State player fouls a Hartford player during a field goal attempt in 2011.

In basketball, a foul is an infraction of the rules more serious than a violation. Most fouls occur as a result of illegal personal contact with an opponent and/or unsportsmanlike behavior. Fouls can result in one or more of the following penalties:

• The team whose player committed the foul loses possession of the ball to the other team.
• The fouled player is awarded one or more free throws.
• The player committing the foul "fouls out" of the game.
• The player committing the foul is suspended from some number of subsequent games.

Some of the penalties listed above are assessed only if a player or a team commits a number of fouls above a specified limit.

Ordinary fouls are routine because of the constant motion inherent in the sport and are not viewed as bad sportsmanship. The penalty imposes a cost on violating the rules but does not disparage the player committing the foul. A player intending never to commit a foul might play so cautiously as to be ineffective. More serious fouls are regarded as bad sportsmanship, and the penalties are designed to be disciplinary.

There are several classes of foul, each enumerated below and covered in greater detail in its own article.