A backboard shattering (also known as backboard breaking or backboard smash) is an accident or
stunt
A stunt is an unusual and difficult physical feat or an act requiring a special skill, performed for artistic purposes usually on television, theaters, or cinema. Stunts are a feature of many action films. Before computer generated imagery spec ...
in
basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...
. It occurs when a player performs a
slam dunk
A slam dunk, also simply known as dunk, is a type of basketball shot that is performed when a player jumps in the air, controls the ball above the horizontal plane of the rim, and scores by shoving the ball directly through the basket with one ...
with sufficient force to shatter the
tempered glass
Tempered or toughened glass is a type of safety glass processed by controlled thermal or chemical treatments to increase its strength compared with normal glass. Tempering puts the outer surfaces into compression and the interior into tension. ...
of the
backboard, often causing the hoop to break off as well. The stunt usually caused games to be canceled or delayed, incurring a
foul for the offending player, serious injuries to occur and expensive costs of cleanup and replacement. Shattering a backboard can be dangerous, sending various small pieces of the backboard glass flying over the players, sideline press personnel, referees, and spectators. In the
National Basketball Association
The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United S ...
(NBA), shattering a backboard during a game is penalized with a "non-unsportsmanlike"
technical foul
In basketball, a technical foul (colloquially known as a "T" or a "tech") is any infraction of the rules penalized as a foul which does not involve physical contact during the course of play between opposing players on the court, or is a foul by a ...
and a possible fine towards the player. The player may not be ejected, nor shall the foul count towards a player's total towards either ejection or suspension.
Throughout the history of basketball there have always been athletes with the size and strength to slam dunk the ball through the rim. However, the first NBA player to shatter a backboard,
Chuck Connors
Kevin Joseph Aloysius "Chuck" Connors (April 10, 1921 – November 10, 1992) was an American actor, writer, and professional basketball and baseball player. He is one of only 13 athletes in the history of American professional sports to have p ...
(who would become far more famous as an actor), did not do so with a dunk. When playing for the Boston Celtics in 1946, Connors took a set shot during pregame warmups, hitting the front of the rim. Because an arena worker had failed to place a protective piece between the rim and backboard, the backboard shattered. All-star power forward
Gus Johnson of the
Baltimore Bullets became famous as a backboard breaker in the NBA, shattering three during his career in the 1960s and early 1970s.
In the
American Basketball Association
The American Basketball Association (ABA) was a major men's professional basketball league from 1967 to 1976. The ABA ceased to exist with the ABA–NBA merger, American Basketball Association–National Basketball Association merger in 1976, ...
(ABA),
Charlie Hentz
Charles Hentz (born March 17, 1948) is an American former professional basketball player.
A 6'5" forward from Arkansas AM&N College, Hentz was the 6th pick in the 5th round of the 1969 NBA Draft (63rd overall pick), selected by the San Diego Roc ...
shattered two backboards in the same game on November 6, 1970, resulting in the game being canceled.
An invention by Arthur Ehrat to create the breakaway rim with a spring on it led to the return of the dunk in college basketball.
[Keilman, John and Tribune staff reporter ]
This gadget really was a slam-dunk
Chicago Tribune, April 4, 2005
An often cited game with a backboard smash was on August 26, 1985.
Michael Jordan
Michael Jeffrey Jordan (born February 17, 1963), also known by his initials MJ, is an American businessman and former professional basketball player. His biography on the official NBA website states: "By acclamation, Michael Jordan is the g ...
dunked so hard during a Nike exhibition game in
Trieste
Trieste ( , ; sl, Trst ; german: Triest ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital city, and largest city, of the autonomous region of Friuli Venezia Giulia, one of two autonomous regions which are not subdivided into provi ...
that the backboard was completely broken. The signed jersey and shoes (including one of the tiny shards of glass in the sole of the left shoe) that Michael Jordan wore during the famous Shattered Backboard game were later auctioned. The moment the glass was broken in Trieste was filmed and is often cited around the world as a particularly important milestone in Jordan's rise.
Darryl Dawkins
Darryl R. Dawkins (January 11, 1957 – August 27, 2015) was an American professional basketball player. He was particularly known for his tenure with the National Basketball Association's Philadelphia 76ers and New Jersey Nets, although he also ...
and
Shaquille O'Neal
Shaquille Rashaun O'Neal ( ; born March 6, 1972), known commonly as "Shaq" ( ), is an American former professional basketball player who is a sports analyst on the television program ''Inside the NBA''. O'Neal is regarded as one of the greates ...
gained notoriety for shattering backboards during their careers; Dawkins is credited for being the person to cause NBA to introduce
breakaway rim
A breakaway rim is a basketball rim that contains a hinge and a spring at the point where it attaches to the backboard so that it can bend downward when a player dunks a basketball, and then quickly snaps back into a horizontal position when the p ...
s, while O'Neal slam dunked with enough force to break the supports holding two backboards during games against the
New Jersey Nets
New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created.
New or NEW may refer to:
Music
* New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz
Albums and EPs
* ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013
* ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...
and the
Phoenix Suns
The Phoenix Suns are an American professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. They compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA), as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. The Suns are the only team in t ...
during the
1992–93 NBA season
Year 199 ( CXCIX) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was sometimes known as year 952 '' Ab urbe condita''. The denomination 199 for this year has been used since the ...
. Following the 1992–93 season, the NBA increased steel brace strength and increased stability of the backboard to prevent the hoop from falling down. A technical foul for backboard shattering was also introduced.
References
{{basketball
1946 introductions
basketball terminology