The NBA might have replaced the glass backboard with plastic, but it didn't stop Shaquille O'Neal from doing the next best thing to breaking it: tearing it down.
In his time at LSU, O'Neal was a freak of nature. He was larger than any player that had ever stepped onto an NBA court and actually had a game to go with it as he featured a powerful low post presence and a quickness that went unmatched by any other center. Before he was a shining star in Los Angeles however, he was just beginning to develop as a man-child in Orlando.
With the new backboard, nothing had been torn down or broken for over a decade until Shaq decided that the streak had run on long enough. In a game against the New Jersey Nets, O'Neal sent down one of his usual power slams, but held onto the rim longer than he should have and tore down the entire backboard, shot clock, and nearly the stadium in the process.
