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Originally Posted by rollo This, too, is complicated and I'm not sure where to start other than to say it all depends on the situation. If a player is attempting a stationary jump shot and I block the shot by hitting the ball first but then run into the shooter, it's a foul because the shooter didn't initiate anything, I did...and contact in that situation must be penalized (foul). That's pretty clear...I hope. However, if this same player is going full speed ahead for a floater or dunk, and I, as the defender, am in a legal defensive position and block the shot first and then am part of a collision/contact, as a royal ref it would be difficult to call a foul on the defender when the collision/contact was a function of the offensive player's momentum as he attacked the basket. Please note that I said 'legal defensive position'. The LeBron dunk involved aggressive play from both the offensive and defensive players, but in a split second decision - that can only be made by a uber experienced ref who has seen this hundreds of times and anticipate what was about to happen - I would swallow the whistle and file it away as 'incidental contact' since (a) LeBron blocked the ball first, (b) both players 'initiated' contact, (c) LeBron didn't extend his opposite elbow to displace the shooter (legal defensive position) and (d) no blood, no foul. So let it be written...so let it be done! King Rollo the Rule Interpreter...OUT!

I think the whistle gets swallowed because, unless you have 8 eyes, no human can see a, b, c, and d above.