Turnover (basketball)

In basketball, a turnover occurs when a team loses possession of the ball to the opposing team before a player takes a shot at their team's basket. This can result from a player getting the ball stolen, stepping out of bounds, having a pass intercepted, committing a violation (such as double dribble, traveling, shot clock violation, three-second violation or five-second violation), or committing an offensive foul (including personal, flagrant, and technical fouls).

Turnovers can be classified into two categories: dead-ball turnovers and live-ball turnovers. Dead-ball turnovers are those which result in dead balls (e.g. rules violations) and live-ball turnovers are those which do not require play to be stopped (e.g. an intercepted pass or recovered loose ball).^[1]

According to Boston Globe sportswriter Bob Ryan, the concept of the turnover was first formulated by his colleague Jack Barry.^[2] Turnovers were first officially recorded in the American Basketball Association (ABA) during the 1967–68 season. The NBA began tracking team turnovers during the 1973-74 season and started tracking turnovers for individual players during the 1977–78 season subsequent to the NBA-ABA merger. The WNBA has recorded turnovers since its inaugural season in 1997.