NBA Player Shatters Backboard in North Gym

In the early afternoon on Saturday, Nov. 26, NBA team Atlanta Hawks were practicing in Samo’s north gym, preparing for their game against the Los Angeles Lakers the following day. Unfortunately for them, practice was cut short after power forward Kris Humphries dunked a basketball, unintentionally causing a backboard to shatter. Brian Part, Samo’s Sports Facility Coordinator, who was at the scene of the incident, recalled the action in detail.“It was a warm-up period for the Hawks; they were using both portions of the court, [and] it was a transition drill for the team to go to one end of the court to another,” Part said. “I didn’t see the action take place because most of the action was on the other side of the court, but as soon as you heard the puncture and the glass shatter, you knew what it was.”Following the incident, members of the team began throwing basketballs at the glass that remained on the backboard. This was videoed and uploaded onto point guard Malcolm Delaney’s Instagram. The video has been viewed over fourteen thousand times. “I personally believe that the video, didn’t paint [the incident] in a great light. It was unfortunate,” Part said. “I know that those involved are not thrilled with the fact that that video was posted, but the damage had been done.”In addition to the backboard breaking and shattering, the court itself was affected, due to falling debris hitting the floor from high areas.“The backboard shattered, which caused paint damage to the key on that end, and the rim was broken. Not completely broken off, but broken to the point where it needs to be repaired,” Part said. “All in all, we need to replace the backboard and do some repainting of the key.”Directly after the incident, Samo wrote a new clause into its contract with visiting teams, stating that they are not permitted to dunk the balls on their baskets in both warm-ups and in games. They are allowed to throw the ball from above the rim, but they are not allowed to dunk violently or hang on the rims. The Atlanta Hawks are not the only basketball team to use Samo’s facilities for gameplay. A few years ago, the North Carolina Tar Heels hosted a practice at Samo. Power forward Tyler Hansbrough and his fellow teammates started the initial concern among staff members about the stability of the backboard. “A few of our district staff members and the coaching staff members were in their worried about how hard Hansbrough and some of the other Tar Heels were dunking the ball,” Part said. “Luckily there were no incidents with a broken rim or backboard, but that was the first time where I noticed that this could be a problem, if you have huge men dunking a ball on these baskets.”In addition, back in 2013 when Samo hosted a tournament, a player from West Ranch High School dunked in a tournament game, resulting in a broken backboard. “We were hosting a tournament where a player from West Ranch [High School] who was a good six foot six, 270 pounds, dunked in a tournament game and broke the backboard,” Part said. According to Part, throughout this entire situation, the Hawks have been very accommodating and helpful. They have offered to repair the damages in full, and look forward to working with Samo again.