<P> Throughout the history of basketball there have always been athletes with the size and strength to slam dunk the ball through the rim . However , the first NBA player to shatter a backboard , Chuck Connors ( who would become far more famous as an actor ) , did not do so with a dunk . When playing for the Boston Celtics in 1946 , Connors took a set shot during pregame warmups , hitting the front of the rim . Because an arena worker had failed to place a protective piece between the rim and backboard , the backboard shattered . All - star power forward Gus Johnson of the Baltimore Bullets became famous as a backboard breaker in the NBA , shattering three during his career in the 1960s and early 1970s . In the ABA , Charlie Hentz shattered two backboards in the same game on November 6 , 1970 , resulting in the game being cancelled . </P>
<P> Throughout the history of basketball there have always been athletes with the size and strength to slam dunk the ball through the rim . However , the first NBA player to shatter a backboard , Chuck Connors ( who would become far more famous as an actor ) , did not do so with a dunk . When playing for the Boston Celtics in 1946 , Connors took a set shot during pregame warmups , hitting the front of the rim . Because an arena worker had failed to place a protective piece between the rim and backboard , the backboard shattered . All - star power forward Gus Johnson of the Baltimore Bullets became famous as a backboard breaker in the NBA , shattering three during his career in the 1960s and early 1970s . In the ABA , Charlie Hentz shattered two backboards in the same game on November 6 , 1970 , resulting in the game being cancelled . </P>
who broke the first backboard in the nba
who broke the first backboard in the nba
Chuck Connors
Chuck Connors