- The breakaway rim was invented in 1976, but wasn't used till mid 90's
- In the early days of basketball, dunking was considered "ungentlemanly", and was rarely used outside of practice or warm-up drills
- A broken backboard or distorted rim could delay a game for hours
- Before the breakaway rim was invented if you dunked hard enough you could take the rim off the hoop and shatter the backboard
- Many people were spraining and breaking their wrists
- A breakaway rim is a basketball hoop that bends slightly when the player dunks and when they release it instantly snaps into place
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History
- In 1976, Arthur Ehrat invented a rim that didn't break backboards or wrists
- Using a spring from a John Deere cultivator, Ehrat designed a rim that could bend and spring back after 1,025 pounds of force were applied to it.
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