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Abackboard is a piece ofbasketball equipment. It is a raised vertical board with an attachedbasket consisting of a net suspended from a hoop. It is made of a flat, rigid piece of, oftenPlexiglas ortempered glass which also has the properties ofsafety glass whenaccidentally shattered. It is usuallyrectangular as used inNBA,NCAA and international basketball. In recreational environments, a backboard may beoval or afan-shape, particularly in non-professional games.
The top of the hoop is 10 feet (3.05 m) above the ground. Regulation backboards are 6 feet (1.83 m) wide by 3.5 feet (1.07 m) tall. All basketball rims (hoops) are 18 inches (46 cm) in diameter. The inner rectangle on the backboard is 24 inches (61 cm) wide by 18 inches (46 cm) tall, and helps a shooter determine the proper aim and banking for either alayup or distance shot.[1][2]
In addition to those markings and those of its manufacturer, leagues and governing bodies often place other decals on the edge of the backboard on the glass, including the logo of the league or organization, and anational flag. On top of the backboard, a league or team's web address or sponsor logo is affixed to take advantage of the high television camera angle utilized forinstant replay ofslam dunks and other shots above the rim.
In professional and most higher college settings, the backboard is part of a portable wheeled stanchion that can be moved out of the way and stored to allow the venue to host multiple other sports and events, though in most high schools and examples such asStanford University'sMaples Pavilion andCameron Indoor Stadium atDuke University, backboards are mounted as part of a suspended system using the venue's ceiling joists to support the goal and allow them to be put out of the way in the ceiling support system via a system ofpulleys when not in use, along with the more common wall-mounted system. Practice orgym class-utilized sideline backboards are generally of the permanently wall-mounted variety, and usually have opaquefiberglass or thick metal boards instead, along with most outdoormunicipal park boards.
In intervening years, the portable stanchion containing the backboard has also taken on cabling and sensors within its core, along with the structure of a game clock andshot clock above it, which makes the setup of one as involved as an arena's basketball floor, to the point of requiring a replacement backboard being on standby if it and/or the rim is ever taken out of level or broken.[3]
A glass backboard was used by theIndiana Hoosiers men's basketball team at theMen's Gymnasium atIndiana University.[4]
Professional glass backboards used to break from 625 pounds (283 kg) of force or more. Modern professional and higher-level college play backboards do not have the glass absorbing any weight to avoid breaking the glass and backboard as a whole.[5]
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