In basketball, both fouls and penalties are violations of the game's rules. Penalties occur when a player or team acts out of form or against the rules of the game. Fouls are violations of rules in circumstances that directly involve another player, most often resulting from physical contact. Fouls are assessed in a number of ways, such as when a player is hit or touched while shooting the basketball, knocked down in a manner that the rules do not permit or when a player displays inappropriate or unsportsmanlike conduct. These fouls are registered and compensated for in various ways.
Personal Fouls
Whenever an individual player commits a foul against another player, this is recorded as a personal foul. It is counted against that individual player and his or her foul limit. Personal fouls may result in free throw opportunities by the other team if the foul was committed while the fouled individual was in the act of shooting, or if the team's foul total is above the foul limit once the most recent foul is added.
Foul Limits
Foul limits vary in college and professional leagues for both players and teams. In college, a player is kicked out of the game after receiving five personal fouls counted against them. In the National Basketball Association (NBA), that number is six. Additionally, college teams begin awarding free throws to the opposing team on a 1-and-1 basis--in which you only get a second free throw if you make the first--after the sixth foul in a half. After the 10th team foul in a half, the team enters a "double-bonus" and their opponents receive two automatic free throw attempts on each foul for the remainder of the half. In the professional leagues, this is simplified: teams are allotted two free throws for every foul against them once their opponent's foul total in a half reaches seven.
Technical Fouls
Technical fouls result from player or coach misconduct, such as swearing, verbal abuse or a physical altercation. Technical fouls award the other team two free throws. A player or coach is kicked out of the game after receiving two technical fouls.
Team Fouls
Team fouls are most often technical fouls and occur when a player or players impede the other team's ability to play in a negative way, such as playing improper defense. Most often team fouls are assessed as technical fouls, such as for times when inactive players step onto the floor or take too long coming out of a timeout. Team fouls are usually added to the team foul totals as a personal foul counted towards the foul limit, unless the team foul is a technical, in which case two free throws are awarded to the opposing team.
