Technical Foul in Basketball: Rule, Penalties and Calls by Level

What a technical foul is in basketball, what draws one, what it costs in free throws and when it ejects a player or coach, labeled by NFHS, NCAA, NBA and FIBA rules.

A technical foul in basketball is a charge for conduct or a procedure violation rather than contact during play, and this guide gives the penalty, the ejection rules and the calls at each level, labeled NFHS, NCAA, NBA and FIBA.

A technical foul in basketball is a foul for conduct or procedure, not for contact during live play. It can be charged to a player, a substitute, a coach or anyone seated on the bench, and it carries free throws. The rules differ by level, so this guide labels every rule NFHS for high school, NCAA men, NCAA women, NBA or FIBA. Where a detail could not be confirmed for a level, the page says to check your state association or league rulebook.

Always check which rulebook your game uses. High school and college give two free throws for most technical fouls. The NBA and FIBA give one. Ejection comes after two technicals at most levels, and college counts them by type.

The rules here come from the NCAA men's and women's rule books for 2026-27, the NBA official rules for 2025-26 and the FIBA rules that took effect on October 1, 2026. The full NFHS rule book is not free to read, so the NFHS lines come from the NFHS rules interpretations and the NCAA's 2025-26 comparison of high school and college rules.

Technical Foul at a Glance by Level

Level	Free throws	Ball after the free throws	Ejection or disqualification
NFHS (high school)	Two	Throw-in for the offended team at the division line opposite the scorer's table	Two technical fouls eject any team member. Five fouls, including technicals, disqualify a team member
NCAA men	Two for a Class A technical. One for a Class B. Administrative: two for too many players or an excessive timeout, one for most other procedure violations (check the rule)	Play resumes at the point of interruption	Two Class A, or one Class A and two Class B, or three Class B
NCAA women	Two for team, player, bench and most administrative technicals	Throw-in for the offended team at the division line opposite the scorer's table, for team, player and bench technicals	Two technicals for a player. For a head coach, a second direct technical, a third indirect one, or one direct and two indirect
NBA	One	The team that had the ball keeps it and throws in nearest the spot where play stopped	Two unsportsmanlike technical fouls. One can also draw an ejection
FIBA (rules from Oct. 1, 2026)	One	Throw-in for the team that had control, from the place nearest where the ball was	A player after two category 1 technical fouls. A head coach after two for his own behavior or three counting bench behavior

What Draws a Technical Foul

A technical foul is a behavior or procedure foul. NCAA women's rules call it a non-contact foul of a behavioral nature committed by a player or bench personnel. FIBA describes technical fouls as behavioral fouls, and its 2026 rules let a category 1 technical include contact that does not reach a flagrant foul. The NBA calls it the penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct or violations by team members on the floor or seated on the bench.

Conduct (unsportsmanlike) technicals. These are the calls most people mean.

NCAA men, Class A. Disrespectfully addressing an official or gesturing resentment, profanity or vulgarity, taunting, baiting or ridiculing another player, inciting the crowd, contacting an opponent in an unnecessary manner during a dead ball, fighting and disrespectful contact with an official.
NCAA women, player and substitute. Disrespect or a gesture of resentment, profanity, taunting, inciting the crowd, pointing at a video board or showing an official an electronic device to disagree with a ruling, and dunking or trying to dunk a dead ball.
NBA. Disrespectfully addressing an official, physically contacting an official, overt actions that show resentment to a call or no-call, profanity, a coach entering the court without permission, a thrown elbow with no contact and taunting. Running tirades or continuous criticism can also be enough.
FIBA, category 1. Disrespectful dealing with the referees, table officials or opponents, language or gestures that offend or incite spectators, baiting or taunting, waving a hand near an opponent's eyes, excessive elbow swinging without contact and faking being fouled.
NFHS. Team, player, substitute and bench technical fouls. One interpretation covers a player who curses at the officials as a time-out ends and another covers a player who slaps the backboard in an unsporting way. Check your state association for the full list.

Other acts draw a technical at some levels. NCAA men list waving a hand near an opponent's eyes, climbing on a teammate, slapping the backboard and grasping the basket in an excessive manner as Class B technicals. The NBA calls a technical on a player who deliberately hangs on the ring.

Technical Foul Penalties and Free Throws by Level

NFHS. Two free throws, then a throw-in at the division line opposite the scorer's table. The foul counts toward the team-foul total, and for a player or substitute it also counts toward the five fouls that disqualify him. Check your state association for who may shoot.
NCAA men. A Class A technical is two free throws, counts toward the team-foul total and counts toward disqualification and ejection. A Class B technical is one free throw. It counts toward ejection but not toward the team-foul total or disqualification. Administrative technicals do not count toward team fouls, disqualification or ejection. Any player or eligible team member on the offended team may shoot, designated by the head coach or captain, and the same player shoots both free throws.
NCAA women. Two free throws followed by a throw-in at the division line opposite the scorer's table. Player, substitute, bench and team technicals count toward the team-foul total. Administrative technicals do not. A player or substitute technical counts toward five fouls for disqualification and two technicals for ejection. The shooter is designated by the head coach or captain, and the same player shoots both.
NBA. One free throw. The ball goes to the team that had possession, whether or not the free throw is made, and play resumes by a throw-in nearest where play stopped. A player who was in the game when the technical was assessed shoots. If a technical follows a personal foul on the same team, the free throw for the technical is shot first. The technical foul rule does not say whether the foul counts as a team foul.
FIBA. One free throw, shot immediately. A technical foul by a player is charged as a player foul and counts as a team foul in any category. A category 1 technical by a bench person is charged to the head coach and does not count as a team foul. The throw-in goes to the team that had control or was entitled to the ball.

The 2026 FIBA rules split technical fouls into two categories. Category 1 counts toward game disqualification, and category 2, such as delaying the game or hanging on the ring, does not. The 2024 FIBA rules listed technical fouls together, and a player was disqualified after two technicals, two unsportsmanlike fouls or one of each. Free throw rules are on the free throw rules page.

Technical Fouls on Coaches and the Bench

Technical foul in basketball bench area diagram with the head coach standing inside the coaching box and three players seated on the bench

NCAA bench area. HC stands inside the coaching box, which runs from the end line to the 38-foot line, while B1, B2 and B3 stay seated. NFHS boxes are a state option of up to 28 feet.

At the NFHS, NCAA and FIBA levels, a bench technical is also charged to the head coach. In the NBA, a technical is charged to the individual who committed it. Know your level.

NCAA men. A Class A technical on a bench person is also charged to the head coach as a Class B. Bench personnel must stay seated while the ball is live. The head coach may stand but must stay completely and clearly in the coaching box, and one warning comes before a later infraction is penalized. The coaching box runs from the sideline to the back of the benches and out to no farther than the 38-foot line. Class B coach and bench technicals include entering the court to attend an injured player without permission, refusing the assigned bench, using headsets, phones or smart watches for coaching and bench personnel leaving the bench area when a fight may break out. Live statistics and pre-loaded video to the bench are allowed.
NCAA women. A direct technical is charged to a head coach for his or her own behavior. An indirect technical is charged to a head coach for bench personnel. The second direct technical, the third indirect one or one direct and two indirect ejects the head coach. A head coach must replace a disqualified or ejected player within 15 seconds, and an injured player within 20.
NFHS. The head coach can also be charged with direct and indirect technicals. A head coach charged with either loses the use of the coaching box. The size of the box is a state option, with a maximum of 28 feet.
NBA. The coach may stand on or off the bench from the substitution box line nearest the bench to the baseline. Crossing midcourt draws an unsportsmanlike technical at once. Assistants and trainers must stay on the bench.
FIBA. A technical by anyone on the bench is a category 1 foul for disrespectful communication or touching or for a procedural or administrative infraction, and it is charged to the head coach. FIBA also lets a delay in replacing a player with five fouls draw a time-out charge and then a technical on the head coach.

For a player who plays after being disqualified or ejected, the charge differs. NFHS charges a direct technical foul to the head coach. NCAA men charge a noncontact flagrant 2 technical to the player and a Class B to the head coach. NCAA women charge the offender with a flagrant 2 foul. See the coaching code of conduct guide for a team standard.

Procedure Technicals: Too Many Players, Delay and Timeouts

Technical foul in basketball diagram of a team with six players on the court when the ball is live

Too many players. Team A has 1 to 5 plus a sixth player (6) on the floor.

Too many players. The NBA assesses a non-unsportsmanlike technical when one team has six or more players on the court after the ball is put in play. NCAA men charge an administrative technical with two free throws when the violation occurs after the ball becomes live. NCAA women now call both too many players and an excessive timeout team technicals without a warning. Check your state association for NFHS.

Technical foul in basketball diagram of a defender standing past the end line beside the thrower during a baseline throw-in

Throw-in plane. 1 is about to throw in from the end line and X1 is already standing past the line beside him.

The throw-in plane. In NCAA men's and women's rules and in the NBA, a defender may not have any part of the body past the boundary line before the ball crosses it. NCAA women issue a team warning and then a team technical. NCAA men list repeated violations as a Class B technical for a player. The NBA treats it as a delay of game, and in the last two minutes of the fourth period and overtime its rule says a technical is assessed.

Delay of game. NFHS gives one warning for any of four delay situations, then a technical for a later one. NCAA men give no warning for administrative technicals and one warning for certain coach delays and for player delays, then a Class B technical. NBA delay of game is a warning first and a technical for each later offense, charged to the team.

Excessive timeouts. NFHS calls it a technical foul. NCAA men give two free throws and the ball at the point of interruption in the backcourt, or at the closest of four spots in the frontcourt. NCAA women assess a team technical, with two shots and the ball to the opponents at the division line opposite the table. The NBA gives one free throw and the ball to the team that shot it. See Basketball Timeout Management for the usual limits.

Faking Being Fouled (Flopping)

NFHS and NCAA women. One team warning for the first offense and a team technical for each later one, with two free throws.
NCAA men. A Class B technical for a player who attempts to influence an official with minimal contact, with one free throw.
NBA. A flop is a reaction that is not reasonable for the force of the contact, or a non-basketball action meant to draw a foul. The technical is assessed at the next neutral opportunity.
FIBA. Faking being fouled is a category 1 technical.

Double Technical Fouls

Technical foul in basketball diagram of a double technical with two opponents facing each other during a dead ball

Double technical. 2 and X2 stand face to face and both are charged at the same time.

A double technical is charged when opponents commit technical fouls against each other at about the same time. In the NBA no free throws are shot, and technicals on opposing teams in the same dead ball before the first free throw is shot also count as a double. NCAA men also award no free throws when the penalties are equal, and the fouls still count. If the penalties are not equal, every free throw is shot. When both teams are charged an administrative technical for a lineup or roster violation, the two fouls offset.

Technical, Unsportsmanlike and Flagrant Fouls

Contact is where the labels differ. The NBA says a technical foul cannot be assessed for physical contact while the ball is live, except for fighting fouls and taunting with physical contact. Illegal contact during a dead ball can be a technical if it is unsportsmanlike or a flagrant foul if it is unnecessary or excessive. NCAA men use a separate contact dead ball technical and a flagrant 2 technical foul. FIBA treats disruptive and flagrant fouls as separate fouls from the technical. Read Flagrant Foul in Basketball, Intentional Foul in Basketball and the complete list of basketball fouls for the contact side.

Technical Fouls in Youth Basketball

The rules above apply to the level named. A school league plays by NFHS or its state association's version, so check the state rule book. Recreation, travel and club leagues write their own rules, so read your league's rule book. For the rules that govern play by level, see Basketball Rules and Regulations and the Rules, Terms and Positions hub.

How Coaches Avoid Technical Fouls

These come straight from what each rule book penalizes.

Stay in the coaching box. At the college level the head coach is allowed to stand only inside it, and at NFHS a coach charged with a technical loses the box.
Keep the bench seated. NCAA men's and women's rules penalize bench personnel who rise to object to a call or use gestures.
Do not show resentment to a call. Disrespectful words and gestures are on the NCAA, NBA and FIBA lists, and an NFHS interpretation penalizes a player who curses at officials.
Leave the court alone. NCAA men and women penalize entering the court to attend an injured player without an official's permission, and the NBA lists a coach entering the court without permission as unsportsmanlike.
Check the devices rule. NCAA bench rules penalize headsets, phones and smart watches used for coaching, with exceptions for live statistics and video to the bench.
Count your players and timeouts. An excessive timeout is a technical foul in NFHS, the NCAA and the NBA, and too many players on the court is a technical in the NBA and the NCAA.
Replace a player quickly. NFHS and NCAA women allow 15 seconds to replace a disqualified or ejected player. FIBA gives 30 seconds.

Questions Coaches Ask About Technical Fouls

How many free throws is a technical foul in basketball?

It depends on the level. High school (NFHS) and NCAA women give two. NCAA men give two for a Class A technical and one for a Class B. The NBA and FIBA give one.

How many technical fouls get you ejected?

Two technical fouls eject a team member in NFHS and an NCAA women's player. The NBA ejects after two unsportsmanlike technicals. NCAA men eject on two Class A, one Class A and two Class B or three Class B. FIBA disqualifies a player after two category 1 technicals.

Does a technical foul count as a team foul?

In NFHS, NCAA women and FIBA a player's technical counts as a team foul. NCAA men count Class A technicals but not Class B or administrative ones. A FIBA bench technical charged to the head coach does not count.

Who shoots a technical foul free throw?

In NCAA men and women, any player or eligible team member on the offended team, designated by the head coach or captain, and the same player shoots both. In the NBA, a player in the game when the technical was assessed. Check your state association for NFHS.

What is a double technical foul?

A technical foul against each team at about the same time. In the NBA no free throws are shot, and in NCAA men's rules none are shot when the penalties are equal.

What is an administrative technical foul?

An NCAA men's technical for a procedure violation such as a roster or lineup change, an illegal number, too many players, an excessive timeout or a delay starting a half. It does not count toward team fouls, disqualification or ejection. NCAA women also use administrative technicals, but call an excessive timeout a team technical.

Return to the Basketball Rules and Regulations guide for the rest of the rules by level, and see Basketball Referee Signals for the signals on the floor.

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