Shaquille O’Neal holds a unique record, for the most broken backboards in the league. O’Neal was a force of nature, from the time he stepped foot on the hardwood. Back in 2011, in his book, Shaq Uncut, O’Neal revealed the backstory behind one of his most iconic dunks. It was the first summer after the big guy went pro, and he was on Ahmad Rashad’s show “called Inside Stuff”.
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Talking about it, Shaq recalled that Rashad, who was in a one-on-one duel with the big fella, kept irking him to get under his skin,
“We’re at the Sports Club in Los Angeles, and Dennis Tracey is with me and Ahmad is playing me one-on-one and he’s barking at me, “Let me see your best. Let me see your best!”.
The result of this was that Shaq, being the mammoth that he is, dunked on Rashad taking the backboard with him to the ground,
“So I blew past him and dunked that thing so hard and the whole backboard shattered. It knocked me right on my ass. For a second, I wasn’t sure what happened. I got up and I had some blood on my elbows….. He was petrified that his meal ticket had just shredded both of his arms.”
The incident sure did leave everyone present at the facility, completely shocked. O’Neal was the first pick in the 1992 draft, and a single injury could completely derail the Magic’s season. But as Rashad approached Shaq, he realized that the 7-footer was completely fine.
Shaq would smile back at Rashad, telling him “I am cool dawg, I am fine”, as the shock slowly left Rashad’s face. O’Neal would slowly understand how the league wasn’t ready for what he had to offer, as he completely dominated from the get-go. Shaq captured the league from his first week itself, winning Player of the Week, in his debut week itself, a record that still stands. Additionally, this tussle between Shaq and the backboards did not stop just there.
Shaquille O’Neal seems to hate backboards
O’Neal has broken countless backboards in gyms around the country, but breaking a backboard in the NBA is a completely different story. The rims in the league are specifically built to withstand tremendous forces, and bringing one down would require a mythical level of strength.
But O’Neal would take this challenge to heart, as he brought down his first rim in his rookie season itself. During a game against Phoenix Suns back in 1992, O’Neal would catch a lob, and dunk the ball with tremendous ferocity. As O’Neal started to run back, the entire setup started collapsing.
Everyone present was left shell-shocked, and even O’Neal seemed taken aback. Since the incident, the NBA decided to further enforce their rims, making most of the structure, “shatter-proof”.
Back in 2021, on ‘The Tonight Show’, O’Neal gave an official number on the broken backboards. Shaq told Jimmy Fallon,
“I have broken about 10 backboards..one time a shot clock fell on my head.”
Since his playing days are now over, Shaq now stands as the judge of the new generation of big men. He often finds the new generation of Centers to be soft and lacking physicality. Even though players like Dwight Howard and Victor Wembanyama have emerged, Shaq continues to look for an ‘heir’ to his throne of backboards.
