How Many Steps Can You Take in Basketball?

The limit is set in Rule 10, Section XIII of the NBA rulebook. A player who gathers the ball while progressing may take (1) two steps in coming to a stop, passing or shooting the ball, or (2) if he has not yet dribbled, one step before releasing the ball. A player who gathers the ball while dribbling may take two steps in coming to a stop, passing or shooting the ball.

The steps are counted from the gather, so the steps a player takes while still dribbling do not count.

Rule 4, Section III defines the gather, and the definition depends on how the player got the ball.

For a player who receives the ball by a pass or gains possession of a loose ball, the gather is the point where the player gains enough control of the ball to hold it, change hands, pass or shoot it, or cradles the ball against his body.

For a player who is dribbling, the gather is the point where the player does any one of the following: puts two hands on the ball or otherwise lets it come to rest while he is in control of it; puts a hand under the ball and brings it to a pause; or otherwise gains enough control of the ball to hold it, change hands, pass or shoot, or cradles it against his body.

The gather is the moment that starts the count. A player who is still bouncing the ball has not gathered it.

The rulebook defines both steps by the feet touching the floor after the gather.

• The first step occurs when a foot, or both feet, touch the floor after the player gathers the ball.
• The second step occurs after the first step, when the other foot touches the floor, or both feet touch the floor simultaneously.

A few consequences follow from the text. A player who comes to a stop on step one, with both feet on the floor or touching the floor at the same time, may pivot using either foot. A player who lands with one foot first may pivot only on that foot. If he jumps with both feet, he must release the ball before either foot touches the floor.

A progressing player who jumps off one foot on the first step may land with both feet simultaneously for the second step. In that case the player may not pivot with either foot, and if one or both feet leave the floor the ball must be released before either returns to the floor.

A pivot, as Rule 4, Section VIII defines it, takes place when a player who is holding the ball steps once or more than once in any direction with the same foot, while the other foot, the pivot foot, stays in contact with the floor. The player may move the free foot as often as he likes, but the pivot foot may not leave the floor on its own.

The rules then say what the player may do next. To start a dribble after receiving the ball while standing still, or after coming to a legal stop, the ball must be out of the player's hand before the pivot foot is raised off the floor. If a player raises the pivot foot off the floor with the ball in hand, he must pass or shoot before that foot returns to the floor. If he drops the ball while in the air, he may not be the first to touch it.

Rule 4, Section IX defines traveling as progressing in any direction while in possession of the ball in excess of the prescribed limits, which the rulebook sets in its rules on the pivot and in Rule 10, Section XIII. Put simply, a player travels by taking more steps than the rule allows after the gather, by moving the pivot foot, or by lifting the pivot foot and then dribbling.

A few related rules in Rule 10, Section XIII are worth knowing. A player who falls to the floor while holding the ball, or while coming to a stop, may not gain an advantage by sliding. A player who attempts a field goal may not be the first to touch the ball if it fails to touch the backboard, the basket ring or another player. A player may not be the first to touch his own pass unless the ball touches the backboard, the basket ring or another player.

All of the wording comes from the official 2025-26 NBA playing rules: Rule 4 for the definitions of the gather, the pivot and traveling, and Rule 10 for the traveling rule itself. The page quotes and summarizes the rulebook. It does not decide how an official calls a particular play, because how the rule is applied in a game, including in replay, is not part of the rulebook text.

The rules are reviewed each year. The page was checked against the 2025-26 edition and will be checked again when a new edition is published. More basketball pages are collected on the NBA hub, and the page about the height of NBA rims covers the basket itself.