A-1 dives out of bounds and throws the ball back onto the court before recovering it. How should the official rule?

The situation described involves a player, A-1, diving out of bounds and then throwing the ball back onto the court before recovering it. According to basketball rules, a player who is out of bounds cannot be the first to touch the ball when it is thrown back onto the court. When A-1 throws the ball back into play and then attempts to recover it, this action constitutes a violation, specifically a double dribble, because A-1 is treated as having essentially violated the dribble rules by touching the ball after it was previously out of bounds.

Understanding the rules of how a player can interact with the ball while out of bounds is critical. Once a player is out of bounds, they cannot be involved in active play until they have re-established themselves in-bounds and the ball has not been thrown back to them. Thus, creating a double dribble scenario when they touch the ball after throwing it back onto the court from out of bounds.

In this case, the determination of a double dribble stands as the correct ruling, as it reflects the violation of a player re-entering the play improperly after being out of bounds.