Backboard slap - BI?

[BillyMac]

Originally Posted by Adam

Even if the backboard swings like a pendulum, there's no call if it was a legitimate block attempt.

For the benefit of non-officials here on the Forum, I would like to add: Even if the ball is balancing on the ring, about to fall into the basket, and the backboard is "swinging like a pendulum" due to a legitimate block attempt, that resulted from an unbelievably hard slap on the backboard, causing the ball to bounce off the ring, preventing the ball from going in the basket, and everybody, and their mother, is screaming "Goaltending", or "Basket interference", the official cannot award the goal, and since it's a slap caused by a legitimate block attempt, the official can't even charge a technical foul.

And even if the official doesn't believe that it was a legitimate attempt to block the shot, the official still can't award the basket. All that can be done is to charge a technical foul, two free throws by any member of the offensive team, and the ball at the division line. The official can't award the basket, even if the backboard comes crashing to the floor.

Why do such incorrect myths regarding this situation exist. I believe that it's because, about thirty years ago, a legitimate attempt to block a shot that resulted in a slapped backboard could result in a technical foul if the backboard, or ring, vibrated during the shot attempt. That rule was removed from the rulebook a long, long time ago, yet the myth persists.

I only go back thirty-six years, but I believe that the official was never allowed to count the basket under any of these circumstances.

Twelve years ago, this situation was one of the first things that I wrote in my list of The Most Misunderstood Basketball Rules.