These are some of the basic rules of the WNBA. Not all the rules are listed here, because there are way to many to list. Most of them are the same as regular basketball. Some of them are only for the WNBA.
Court Dimensions and Equipment
a. The playing court shall be measured and marked as shown in the court diagram.
b. A free throw line shall be
drawn (2" wide) across each of the circles indicated in the court diagram.
It shall be parallel to the end line and shall be 15' from the plane of the face
of the backboard.
c. The three-point field goal area has parallel lines 63" from the sidelines, extending 63" from the baseline and an arc of 19'9" from the middle of the basket which intersects the parallel lines.
d. (1) The ball shall be an officially approved WNBA
ball with a weight not less than 18 ounces nor more than 20 ounces. The
circumference of the ball shall be within a maximum of 29 inches and a minimum
of 28.5 inches. The ball shall be inflated to an air pressure of no more than 9
pounds.
Officials and Their Duties
a. The game officials shall be a crew chief, referee and umpire. They will be assisted by an official scorer and two trained timers. One timer will operate the game clock and the other will operate the 30-second clock. All officials shall be approved by the Operations Department.
b. The officials shall, prior
to the start of the game, inspect and approve all equipment, including court,
baskets, balls, backboards, timers and scorer's equipment.
c. The officials shall not permit players to play with any type of hand, arm, face, nose, ear, head or neck jewelry.
d. Officials must meet with team captains prior to the start of the game to go over rules and conduct of the game.
Players and Coaches
a. Each team shall consist of five players. No team may be reduced to less than five players. If a player in the game receives her sixth personal foul and all substitutes have already been disqualified, said player shall remain in the game and shall be charged with a personal and team foul. A technical foul also shall be assessed against her team. All subsequent personal fouls, including offensive fouls, shall be treated similarly. All players who have six or more personal fouls and remain in the game shall be treated similarly.
b. A team may have a captain and a co-captain numbering a maximum of two. The designated captain may be anyone on the squad who is in uniform, except a player-coach.
c. The designated captain is the only player who may
talk to an official during a regular or 20-second timeout charged to her team.
She may discuss a rule interpretation, but not a judgment decision.
d. The coach's position may be
on or off the bench from the 28' hash mark to the baseline. All assistants and
trainers must remain on the bench. Coaches and trainers may not leave this
restricted 28' area unless specifically requested to do so by the officials.
Coaches and trainers are not permitted to go to the scorer's table, for any
reason, except during a timeout or between periods, and then only to check
statistical information. The penalty for violation of this rule is a technical
foul.
e. Coaches are not
permitted to talk to an official during any timeout. (See Rule 3-Section III-(b)
for captain's rights).
f. The bench shall be occupied only by a league-approved head coach, a maximum of two assistant coaches, players and trainer.
g. Each player shall be
numbered on the front and back of her jersey with a number of solid color
contrasting with the color of the shirt.
h. Each number must be
not less than 3/4" in width and not less than 4" in height on both the
front and back. Each player shall have her surname affixed to the back of her
game jersey in letters at least 2" in height. If a team has more than one
player with the same surname, each such player's first initial must appear
before the surname on the back of the game jersey.
i. The home team shall wear light color jerseys and the visitors dark jerseys. For neutral court games and doubleheaders, the second team named in the official schedule shall be regarded as the home team and shall wear the light colored jerseys.
Game Play:
a. The game, second half and overtime(s) shall be started with a jump ball in the center circle.
a. The ball becomes live when:
(1) It is tossed by an official on any jump ball.
(2) It is at the disposal of the offensive player for a throw-in.
(3) It is placed at the disposal of a free throw shooter.
b. The ball shall be put into
play in the center circle by a jump ball between any two opponents:
(1) At the start of the game
(2) At the start of the second half
(3) At the start of each overtime period
c. A legal field goal or free
throw attempt shall be scored when a live ball enters the basket from above and
remains in or passes through the net.
d. A successful field goal
attempt from the area on or inside the three-point field goal line shall count
two points.
e. A successful field goal attempt from the area outside the three-point field goal line shall count three points.
f. A successful free throw attempt shall count one
point.
g. An unsuccessful free throw
attempt which is tapped into the basket shall count two points and shall be
credited to the player who tapped the ball in.
h. Regulation play in the WNBA
will be two twenty-minute halves.
i. All overtime periods of play
will be five minutes.
j. Fifteen minutes will be
permitted between halves of all games.
k. 120 seconds will be permitted for regular timeouts and between the second half and or any overtime period.
l. The timing devices shall be
stopped whenever the official's whistle sounds indicating one of the following:
(1) A personal or technical foul.
(2) A jump ball
(3) A floor violation.
(4) An unusual delay.
(5) A suspension-of-play for any other emergency (no substitutions are
permitted.)
(6) A regular or 20-second timeout.
m. The timing devices shall be
stopped during the last minute of each half and/or overtime(s) following a
successful field goal attempt.
n. Officials may not use official time to permit a player to change or repair equipment.
o. There must be four timeouts per half. If neither team has taken a regular timeout prior to the 16-, 12-, 8-, and 4-minute marks in each half, it shall be mandatory for the Official Scorer to take a regular timeout at the next dead ball.
p. Each team is entitled to one regular timeout per half during regulation play. Each team will also be granted 1 20-second timeout in the first half and 2 20-second timeouts in the second half.
q. In overtime periods, each team shall be allowed one regular timeout plus one 20-second timeout.
r. The 30-second clock will start when a team gains new possession of a ball which is in play.
s. On the throw-in, the 30-second clock shall start when the ball is legally touched on the court by a player.
t. A team must attempt a field goal within 30 seconds after gaining possession of the ball.
u. When a free throw is
awarded, an official shall put the ball in play by placing it at the disposal of
the free throw shooter. The shooter shall be within the upper half of the free
throw circle. The same procedure shall be followed each time a free throw is
administered.
v. During a free throw for a
personal foul, each of the spaces nearest the end line must be occupied by an
opponent of the free throw shooter. Teammates of the free throw shooter must
occupy the next adjacent spaces on each side. Only one of the third adjacent
spaces may be occupied by an opponent of the free throw shooter. It is not
mandatory that either of the third adjacent spaces be occupied. No teammates of
the free throw shooter are permitted in these spaces.
w. A player who does not
occupy a free throw lane space must remain 6' from the free throw lane line
and/or 3' from the free throw circle.
x. If the ball is to become dead after the last free throw, players shall not take positions along the free throw lane. No players shall be allowed inside the free throw line extended while a free throw is being attempted under these conditions.
y. A player shall not remain for more than three seconds in that part of her free throw lane between the end line and extended 4' (imaginary) off the court and the farther edge of the free throw line while the ball is in control of her team.
z. A team shall not be in continuous control of a ball which is in its backcourt for more then 10 consecutive seconds.
aa. A player who receives the ball, may pivot, (lifting one foot off the ground and repositioning it to another spot on the floor causing the whole body to move) but may not walk or move both feet from the same position while holding the ball. Violation of this rule is traveling.
bb. A player may not dribble the ball with both hands. A player may not dribble the ball, hold the ball in her hands, and then dribble again. Violation of this rule is double dribbling.
cc. When another player on the opposing team is shooting, dribble, or on the floor, a player is not permitted to slap, hit, push, block or anything else that could enable them from making a play. Violation of this rule is a foul. It results in a foul shot for the other team when #1 the fouling team is in Bonus (7 fouls) or #2 the foul was committed on the shooter while shooting.
