Isn't it goaltending...

[Moranis]

when your hand touches the rim when the above is still above the rim?

[MBz]

Might be basket interference, I am not sure what it's called, but it is def a violation.

[Roy Hobbs]

I don't think it's illegal to inadvertently touch the rim, so long as the rim doesn't move.

EDIT:

Section I-A Player Shall Not:
a. Touch the ball or the basket ring when the ball is using the basket ring as its lower base.
EXCEPTION: If a player near his own basket has his hand legally in contact with the ball, it is not a violation if his contact with the ball continues after the ball enters the cylinder, or if, in such action, he touches the basket.
b. Touch the ball when it is above the basket ring and within the imaginary cylinder.
c. For goaltending to occur, the ball, in the judgment of the official, must have a chance to score.
d. During a field goal attempt, touch a ball after it has touched any part of the backboard above ring level, whether the ball is considered on its upward or downward flight.
e. During a field goal attempt, touch a ball after it has touched the backboard below the ring level and while the ball is on its upward flight.
f. Trap the ball against the face of the backboard. (To be a trapped ball, three elements must exist simultaneously. The hand, the ball and the backboard must all occur at the same time. A batted ball against the backboard is not a trapped ball.)
g. Touch any live ball from within the playing area that is on its downward flight with an opportunity to touch the basket ring. This is considered to be a "field goal attempt" or trying for a goal.
h. Touch the ball at any time with a hand which is through the basket ring.
i. Vibrate the rim or backboard so as to cause the ball to make an unnatural bounce.

http://www.nba.com/analysis/rules_11.html

There's the text of the rule.  I think it confirms what I said above.  The only time you can't touch the "basket ring" is if the ball is *touching* the rim.

[Moranis]

Thanks Roy. 

It just doesn't seem right ot me that you can hit the rim before the ball hits it, but when the ball is above the cylinder and it not be goaltending, but the rule is what it is.

[bdm860]

I'm sure you're talking about the play from last night at the end of regulation.  From today's ESPN Daily Dime:

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/dailydime?page=dime-090608

NBA supervisor of officials Bernie Fryer told ESPN.com that if Gasol's hand had shaken the basket, caused the stanchion to move or touched the rim while the ball was on the rim, the correct call would have been goaltending.

But since none of those things happened, according to Fryer, "It was a cut-and-dried no-call."