A term you may not have heard before in the game of basketball is wedgie, this is because wedgies don’t happy very often during a basketball game. A wedgie is when the basketball gets stuck on the rim.
What happens when the basketball gets stuck on the rim? When the basketball gets stuck in between the rim and the backboard during a basketball game the ball is considered a dead ball and is considered either a jump ball or a change of possession. This will depend on what league and rules are used to decide the dead ball.
We will take a look at how often wedgies happen, what happens after the ball is stuck, and if you can play the basketball while it’s stuck on the rim. Hopefully, you learn something new in regards to wedgies.
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What is it called when the basketball gets stuck on the rim?
The term used for when a basketball gets stuck on the rim is called a wedgie.
Yes, the same term used when you pull up your friend’s underpants in elementary school.
The term is used because the basketball wedges between the rim and the backboard causing the ball to get stuck.
Sometimes also get stuck on top of the rim where the flat part is, this is called the basket flange.
What happens if the basketball gets stuck on the rim?
According to the NBA rule book on NBA.com, the basketball is considered a dead ball when it stuck on the rim or wedgied and a jump ball at center court will be called.
RULE NO. 6: Putting Ball in Play – Live/Dead Ball
In High School and the NCAA when the basketball is a wedgie, it is considered a dead ball which means its a jump ball, but there is actually no jump.
The possession is determined by the arrow at the scorer’s table. Whichever bench the arrow is pointed to is that team’s ball.
In leagues where FIBA governed rules are used when the ball is stuck on the rim, they use alternating possession.
An example would be whoever won the jump ball, the team that lost the jump would get the next possession, similar to the arrow possession in high school and college basketball.
Can you touch the basketball when it is stuck on the rim?
No! you can not touch the basketball when it is stuck on the rim as this would be called goal tending if it was in fact touched before the referee was able to blow the whistle.
The players would need to wait for the referee to blow the whistle and determine if it will be a jump ball or a change of possession.
In FIBA because players are allowed to hit the ball off the rim, in the case of the wedgie when it is lodged or stuck on the rim this would be considered illegal and the ref would call a dead ball.
How often does a basketball get stuck on the rim?
This is an anomaly and doesn’t happen very often, in fact, the NBA and other 3rd party groups like to count wedgies during the season.
There are around 50 wedgies in a whole season of 30 teams playing 82 games each.
That’s 2,460 games with 50 wedgies a season.
Now I am not claiming that the wedgie number is 100 percent accurate, but it is a good baseline for what you can expect when a basketball gets stuck in a rim, and what has been counted in years past.
Amazingly there was a girl’s high school basketball game in which the basketball got wedgied 3 times in a row during the game, you can find that video below.
What causes the basketball to get stuck on the rim?
Most of the time the basketball gets stuck on the rim by a player shooting 12 feet or further.
They have completely missed the basket and by fluke, the basketball gets lodge on the rim in between the backboard.
Sometimes a layup attempt causes this also but very rarely does that happen in the NBA.
In other instances, the basketball will be stuck on the flat surface of the rim due to a layup or short shot attempt within 10 feet of the basket.
This is also much rare but still happens and is treated like a wedgie.
It is possible for each type of wedgie to happen from any amount of distance or the type of shot that is taken on the basketball court, it just becomes much rarer.
What happens when the basketball gets stuck on the rim on a buzzer-beater attempt?
This has happened to Kawhi Leonard when he played for the Toronto Raptors attempting a game-winner against the Hornets.
If after a wedgie it is a jump ball at the center circle then because there isn’t any time left on the clock the game is over.
The next time the basketball gets stuck while you are watching a basketball game yell out wedgie, I am sure a few basketball fans will learn the new term.