How many backboards did Shaquille O’Neal break in his NBA career?

Shaquille O'Neal will forever hold the distinction of being one of the most ferocious dunkers in basketball history. With a unique blend of size, strength and athleticism, O'Neal dominated even the biggest of defenders. Early on in his career, the 7-foot-1 star possessed the speed and quickness of a small guard, with the size and strength of a center.

Over his career, O'Neal developed his post-up game as his youthful explosiveness began to fade. Without missing much of a beat, O'Neal transitioned from Orlando to Los Angeles and won three straight championships with Kobe Bryant. In 19 seasons played for six teams, O'Neal broke an unofficial 12 backboards, two of which came during NBA games.

As some have alleged, Shaquille O'Neal had some fun with all of the hoops he broke over the years, collecting them to make a tree. Several years ago the Big Diesel took to Instagram to show off a tree with a bunch of hoops, claiming it was constructed of all the ones he broke. As the internet quickly discovered, that wasn't the case, and the unique art piece is actually located in Arkansas.

Below, you can see a compilation video of O'Neal breaking backboards and posterizing defenders.

Shaquille O'Neal's most notable broken backboards

Shaquille O'Neal (Tyson Fury v Deontay Wilder)

While Shaquille O'Neal broke several backboards at local gyms and training facilities, there were several moments that stand out from the rest. The first was O'Neal's massive dunk at LSU that shattered the backboard and made him a household name. Fans quickly took note of the massive star coming out of college so that by the time he was in the NBA, he had plenty of hype behind him.

Once he got to the NBA, O'Neal notably broke two backboards during his time with the Orlando Magic. It became such a problem, and cause for concern, that the league had to find a way to make the hoops more durable. As assistant NBA commissioner Rod Thorn explained in an interview during the 1990s:

“We’re going to make sure that all of the equipment is up to snuff. Whether it was Shaquille O’Neal or someone else, with the size of these guys, it was just a matter of time. He just happened to be a little bigger and stronger than most.”

Fortunately, in none of the cases were there any injuries to spectators, players or O'Neal. In some of the clips seen above, O'Neal takes a some pretty hard falls as the rims give way and the backboards shatter. As he showed recently during "Inside the NBA," despite being 50 years old, O'Neal manages to avoid getting hurt in many cases where he takes pretty hard falls.

On a recent episode of "NBA on TNT," O'Neal and Kenny "The Jet" Smith were racing to the big board when Smith gave the Hall of Famer a shove that sent him flying. The moment quickly went viral on social media, like many of O'Neal's broken backboard moments and can be seen below for your viewing pleasure.