RULE NO. 2—OFFICIALS AND THEIR DUTIES
Section II—Duties of the Officials
a. 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.
b. The officials shall not permit players to play with any type of hand, arm, face, nose, ear, head or neck jewelry.
c. The officials shall not permit any player to wear equipment which, in his judgment, is dangerous to other players. Any equipment which is of hard substance (casts, splints, guards and braces) must be padded or foam covered and have no exposed sharp or cutting edge. All the face masks and eye or nose protectors must conform to the contour of the face and have no sharp or protruding edges. Approval is on a game-to-game basis.
d. All equipment used must be appropriate for basketball. Equipment that is unnatural and designed to increase a player’s height or reach, or to gain an advantage, shall not be used.
e. The officials must check the three game balls to see that they are properly inflated. The recommended ball pressure should be between 7Ѕ and 8Ѕ pounds.
f. The crew chief shall be the official in charge.
g. If a coach desires to discuss a rule or interpretation of a rule prior to the start of a game or between periods, it will be mandatory for the officials to ask the other coach to be present during the discussion. The same procedure shall be followed if the officials wish to discuss a game situation with either coach.
h. The designated official shall toss the ball at the start of the game. The crew chief shall decide whether or not a goal shall count if the officials disagree, and he shall decide matters upon which scorers and timers disagree.
i. All officials shall be present during the 20-minute pre-game warm-up period to observe and report to the Operations Department any infractions of Rule 12A-Section VIII—j (hanging on the rim) and to review scoring and timing procedures with table personnel. Officials may await the on-court arrival of the first team.
j. Officials must meet with team captains prior to start of game.
k. Officials must report any atypical or unique incident to the Operations Department by datagram. Flagrant, punching, fighting fouls or a team’s failure to have eight players to begin the game must also be reported.
