Backboard shattering

A backboard shattering (also known as backboard breaking or backboard smash) is an accident or stunt in basketball. It occurs when a player slam dunks the ball with sufficient force to shatter the tempered safety glass of the backboard. The stunt has 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 is extremely dangerous, sending various small pieces of the backboard glass flying over the players, sideline press personnel, referees, and fans. In the National Basketball Association (NBA), shattering a backboard during a game is penalized with a "non-unsportsmanlike" technical foul 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.[1]

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 (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.[2] 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.[3] In the American Basketball Association (ABA), Charlie Hentz shattered two backboards in the same game on November 6, 1970, resulting in the game being cancelled.[4]

An often cited game with a backboard smash was on August 26, 1985. Michael Jordan dunked so hard during a Nike exhibition game in Trieste 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.[5]

Darryl Dawkins and Shaquille "Shaq" O'Neal became famous for shattering backboards; the former is credited for being the person to cause NBA to introduce breakaway rims, while the latter slam dunked hard enough that he broke the supports holding two backboards during games against the New Jersey Nets and the Phoenix Suns during the 1992–93 NBA season. 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.[1][6]