What changes when a 3x3 team has committed a lot of fouls?
I · Intermediate · Violations and fouls · 5 of 7From its seventh team foul, every foul a team commits gives the opponents two free throws. From the tenth, it gives two free throws and possession of the ball as well. Fouls are counted for the team over the whole game, including overtime, and never reset.
How it works
- What counts: every foul by a player or the substitute. An unsportsmanlike or disqualifying foul counts as two team fouls.
- Fouls 1 to 6: the ordinary penalties. A foul on a player who is not shooting gives a check-ball.
- Fouls 7, 8 and 9: 2 free throws.
- Foul 10 and after: 2 free throws and possession.
- Shooting fouls too: the team foul penalty takes priority over the ordinary shooting foul penalty.
- Not technical fouls: a technical foul adds one to the team's count, and its own penalty stays at 1 free throw.
- Offensive fouls: a check-ball to the other team, with no free throws.
- Who shoots: the player who was fouled.
- Intervals: a foul committed in an interval counts as if it happened in regular time or overtime.
The glossary has team fouls, the free throw and the offensive foul.
Tricky cases
A team with eight fouls fouls a shooter inside the arc, and the shot misses. How many free throws?
Two. From the seventh team foul the penalty is two free throws, in place of the one a shot from inside the arc would bring.
Do team fouls reset for overtime?
No. The count runs through the whole game.
A team has nine fouls and commits an unsportsmanlike foul. What is the count?
Eleven. An unsportsmanlike foul adds two.
A team on ten fouls is fouled while it has the ball. Does it get free throws?
It depends on the other team's count. The penalty follows the number of fouls of the team that commits the foul, not of the team that suffers it.
Why the rule exists
With no personal foul limit, a team could foul freely to stop easy baskets. The rising price is the brake: two free throws make a foul cost more than the one-point shot it prevented, and from the tenth the fouling team does not even get the ball back afterwards.
Where it differs
| Where | What changes | Source |
|---|---|---|
| FIBA 3x3 rules | Penalty from the 7th and the 10th team foul | Art. 41 |
| Under-12 | Recommended: no penalty situation | Appendix E |
| Five-a-side basketball | Team fouls reset each quarter, with 2 free throws from the fifth | ../5x5/ set |
From the rule book
FIBA, Official 3x3 Basketball Rules 2026 (valid as of 1 January 2026), Articles 34.2, 36.3, 37.2.4, 38.3.4 and 41.1 to 41.2.2. Official document:FIBA Official 3x3 Basketball Rules (PDF).