Broken basketball backboards: What causes it? How do you fix it?
It's one of the most exciting highlights to see in basketball — a player goes up for a big dunk, there's a pop, and the glass backboard is shattered.
When it happens, the crowd goes wild, the highlights hit social media, and the player who broke the glass is celebrated.
If this happens in college or the NBA, it's not a huge deal. They've got spare backboards — sometimes even spare goals — that can be brought out immediately. It will cause a delay, but it won't end the game.
That's not the case for most high schools though. When a basketball backboard breaks in high school, the game is likely over — or at least suspended.
And while the fans and followers on social media may be excited, school officials have to figure out what to do about repairs.
Bison Inc. is a national distributor of sports equipment, including glass backboards used in high school gyms. They're a partner of the National Federation of State High School Associations. Bison CEO Nick Cusick said broken backboards are rare these days.
"Ir's relatively rare," Cusick said, noting that his company sees one or two broken backboards a year while supplying thousands across the country.
So what causes it? You might think age, and you could be correct. Or not. The glass in a backboard is not more likely to break because the glass itself is old.
"Glass doesn’t age, so it’s not more likely to break as it gets old. It’s not like rust on a steel part," Cusick said.
When a backboard is broken during play — and not from abuse, disaster, or some other event — it's caused by stress, according to Cusick. Older backboards could be manufactured in a way that increases the pressure on the glass, making broken backboards more likely.
"99.9% of the time it's stress on the glass that somehow got to the glass through the rim. Most backboards that are manufactured today are manufactured in such a way where the structure in the backboard that isolates contact on the rim from having impact on the glass," Cusick said, noting that Bison does not make a backboard where the rim is mounted directly to the glass.
The space between the rim and the backboard is called the standoff. Some older backboards were designed before dunking was legal, or before high school athletes were routinely able to dunk. Those backboards are at more risk of breaking because the rim can add pressure to the glass.
Cusick said backboards built in the last 10 years, and probably in the last 15-20 years, are unlikely to break.
What happens after a backboard is broken?
Once the backboard breaks, school officials have to coordinate repairs. The first step is cleaning up the glass, which in most cases, isn't a major task.
"While there is some danger of the glass falling, most cases, most of the glass stays in the frame," Cusick said, noting that some pieces of glass could fall. "Most of the glass, most often, stays in the board."
Backboards are tempered glass though, so it doesn't break like a window in your home or a glass plate may break.
"There might be places around the rim where some of those shards fall to the ground or onto the player, but generally speaking, they're small enough they're not going to cause major injuries," said Cusick. "Cleaning up the glass is an issue. There's potential to small damage to the floor, but quite honestly, if the game is stopped and they sweep up the glass, it's unlikely it'll cause significant damage to the floor."
Floor damage is possible though. In 2014, a backboard was shattered at Panther Creek High School in Cary. Pieces of glass fell to the ground, denting the wooden floor and leaving some pieces of glass lodged in the floor. In the end, the floor had to be refinished.
The glass in a backboard is heavy, which can lead to some floor damage. However, Cusick said rubberized courts or some manufactured sport courts are more likely than wooden floors to be damaged.
Once the mess is cleaned up, a new backboard has to be purchased and installed though.
Customers who purchased their backboard through Bison have a lifetime warranty, which includes an emergency glass program. Cusick said if one of their boards breaks, they will replace the board and pay to have it shipped via air as soon as possible. They even give $250 to help cover the cost of installation.
"If it's someone else's backboard ... we have them in stock and can usually ship it the same day or the next day," Cusick said.
Once the new backboard arrives, Cusick said it usually takes about three people with a lift to install it. If they're experienced in mounting backboards, it can be done in 1-2 hours, he said.
" A typical competition glass backboard weighs about 225 pounds. It’s not like you can get two guys and lift the backboard up to 10 feet on a couple ladders," said Cusick.
The cost of a backboard typically ranges from $600 to $800.
Dunks aren't the only reasons backboards break
Glass backboards are highly unlikely to break because of a dunk, but there are other ways basketball backboards can break.
Cusick said the most common cause of a broken backboards comes from damage during shipping.
Another issue could make itself known immediately after installation.
"Sometimes when boards are brand new and they mount them, sometimes there are unknown small flaws in the glass. Occasionally, when a brand new backboard is installed and they mount it to the structure and tighten all the bolts, they put stress on the glass," Cusick said.
That added stress can result in a broken backboard when a ball hits the backboard or contact is made with the rim.
