OrlandoMagic.com’s Josh Cohen describes memorable plays and moments in franchise history.
What Goes Up Must Come Down
Though he wasn’t the first NBA player to smash a backboard, Shaquille O’Neal’s shatters remain the most significant. Years after Gus Johnson and Darryl Dawkins, two of the original rim crushers, Shaq demolished a pair of hoops during his rookie season.
The first came in Phoenix on Feb. 7, 1993 when O’Neal literally pulled the entire hoop down from a putback slam.
Shaq took it a step further on April 23, 1993 when his two-handed flush snapped the backboard off the stanchion and some of the glass shattered onto the court.
Years later in 2009, a Dwight Howard slam caused the shot clock to collapse.
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