 In 1982, the US patent office accepted his 1976 application to patent a "deformation-preventing swingable mount for basketball goals".The breakaway rim was first used by the NCAA during the 1978 Final Four in St. Louis.Although Darryl Dawkins shattered two backboards with his dunks in 1979, the old-style bolted rim structure was not phased out of the NBA until the 1981–82 season, when breakaway rims debuted as a uniform equipment upgrade.