 The key , officially referred to as the free throw lane by the National Basketball Association ( NBA ) and the National Collegiate Athletic Association ( NCAA ) , the restricted area by the international governing body FIBA , and colloquially as the lane or the paint , is an area on a basketball court underneath the basket bounded by the endline , the foul line and other lines which are known as freebody lines , that are usually painted ( although unpainted on some courts with painted perimeters ) . It is a critical area on the court where much of the action takes place in a game . 
 The key , officially referred to as the free throw lane by the National Basketball Association ( NBA ) and the National Collegiate Athletic Association ( NCAA ) , the restricted area by the international governing body FIBA , and colloquially as the lane or the paint , <a href='drop_aux' title='1'><mark>is</mark></a>an area on a basketball court underneath the basket bounded by the endline , the foul line and other lines which are known as freebody lines , that are usually painted ( although unpainted on some courts with painted perimeters ) . It <a href='drop_aux' title='2'><mark>is</mark></a>a critical area on the court where much of the action <a href='uninflect' title='3'><mark>takes</mark></a> place in a game . 
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