Three seconds rule - Wikipedia Three seconds rule Not to be confused with the Five - second rule of food hygiene, or the two - second rule regarding safe driving, both sometimes known as the three - second rule. The three seconds rule ( also referred to as the three - second rule or three in the key, with often termed a lane violation ) requires that in basketball, a player shall not remain in the opponents ' restricted area for more than three consecutive seconds while their team is in control of a live ball in the frontcourt and the game clock is running. The three - second rule was introduced in 1936 and was expressed as such : no offensive player with the ball could remain in the Key with or without the ball, for more than three seconds. The three - second rule came about in part following a game at Madison Square Garden between the University of Kentucky ( UK ) and New York University ( NYU ) in 1935, won by NYU 23 - 22. The university of Kentucky team did not take their own referee, a common practice at the time, despite advice to the UK coach Adolph Rupp from Notre Dame coach George Keogan, who had lost to NYU the week prior and who warned Rupp of the discrepancies in officiating between the Midwest and the East. The game was rough. UK was unable to run its normal offense ( which consisted of using screens ) without being called for a foul. New York University 's Irving Terjesen and Irwin Klein combined to guard one of UK 's major players, Leroy Edwards, allowing him to score a mere 6 points ( the lowest output of his career ). The New York Post reacted with alarm : `` The score says that NYU is the best college basketball team in the country and that the East still is supreme. But if Frank Lane, the referee from the Midwest, had worked the game, it 's safe to assume big Leroy Edwards would have been given a fantastic number of foul shots. Minor mayhem was committed on the person of Edwards by Terjesen and Klein. Something will have to be done or the game will become entirely too rough. '' See also Defensive three - second violation Basketball Key Five - second rule References Jump up ^ Rule 5 ( Violations ), Article 26. `` Official Basketball Rules 2014 '' ( pdf ). International Basketball Federation. 2014. Retrieved 2014 - 03 - 02. Jump up ^ New York Post, quoted in Laudeman, Tev ( 1972 ). The Rupp Years : The University of Kentucky 's Golden Era of Basketball. Louisville : Louisville Courier - Journal. ASIN B0006C4AOO., cited in `` Leroy Edwards ''. bigbluehistory.net. Retrieved December 22, 2014. Basketball ( outline ) General topics History of basketball James Naismith Variations of basketball Leagues Statistics Glossary of terms Index of articles Rules Bonus Jump ball Officials Turnover Violation 3 seconds Offense Defense 5 seconds Basket interference Carrying Double dribble Goaltending Shot clock Traveling Foul Flagrant Personal Technical Game play Air ball Alley - oop Assist Backboard shattering Ball hog Block Buzzer beater Cherry picking Dribble Crossover Dunk Euro step Fadeaway Fast break Fly Flop Jump shot Layup Finger roll Field goal Four - point play Free throw Hook shot Moves Pick and roll Positions Posterized Playbook Rebound Point Screen Back screen Slashing Steal Three - pointer Three - point play Uncontested shot Strategy General Sixth man Offense Continuity offense Flex Shuffle UCLA High Post Wheel Dribble drive motion Four corners Motion Princeton Run and gun Grinnell System Nellie Ball Small ball Triangle Defense 1 - 2 - 1 - 1 1 -- 3 -- 1 2 -- 3 zone Amoeba Box - and - one Double team Full - court press Hack - a-Shaq Jordan Rules Line Man - to - man Match - up zone Triangle - and - two Zone Equipment Backboard Ball Breakaway rim Court Half court Key Net Possession arrow Whistle Clothing Basketball sleeve Finger sleeve Air Jordan Chuck Taylor All - Stars Miscellaneous 100 - point scorers 50 -- 40 -- 90 club AAU All - Americans AAU champions Mikan Drill Player tracking Shootaround Tip drill Winning streaks This basketball - related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Three_seconds_rule&oldid=812463632 '' Categories : Rules of basketball 1936 introductions Basketball stubs Talk About Wikipedia Ελληνικά Français 日本 語 Polski Русский Türkçe Edit links This page was last edited on 28 November 2017, at 00 : 01. About Wikipedia

Question: when did the nba 3 second rule start
Answer: 1936