No basketball court is complete without a backboard. This is the raised rectangular board where the basketball rim is attached. Modern backboards are usually made of metal, fiberglass, acrylic, or tempered glass. Basketball players shoot the ball in the rim, which is a metal hoop with a hanging net. At times, a player aims for a certain spot in the backboard to make a basket. This move is called “banking a shot.”

The game of basketball was invented by Dr. James Naismith. He and his players initially didn’t use a metal hoop to shoot balls in. What served as their goals instead were baskets. But it was extremely inconvenient to retrieve the ball from the basket after every shot. Eventually, the goals on both ends of the court were converted to the basketball rim that is still used to this very day.