What is a flagrant foul, and what is the penalty?

A flagrant foul (Art. 38) is a player's illegal contact with an opponent that goes against the spirit of sportsmanship and fair play and, by its nature or severity, goes beyond a personal or disruptive foul. Together with the disruptive foul, it replaces the old unsportsmanlike foul.

Criteria:

• not a legitimate basketball play against an opponent, with or without the ball;
• a reckless, violent or dangerous act that causes or may cause injury;
• excessive, hard contact while trying to play the ball or an opponent.

Penalty:

• Charged to the offender. It counts as a team foul and counts towards game disqualification.
• Free throws to the fouled player: 2 if not shooting; if shooting, the goal counts plus 1 free throw, or 2 or 3 free throws if the shot missed.
• Then a throw-in from the throw-in line in the team's frontcourt, opposite the scorer's table, with 14 seconds on the shot clock. If the foul is penalised before the game has started, the free throws are followed by the opening jump ball in the centre circle instead.

Disqualification: 2 flagrant fouls, or 1 flagrant and 1 category 1 technical foul, means game disqualification. Only the last foul is penalised.