Spalding NBA Hercules Vertical Pole Portable Basketball System - 52" Acrylic Backboard

I felt like Clark Griswold when his son said about wasting an entire Saturday looking for a stupid tie. Just insert “putting together basketball hoop” assembly for tie and we are good to go. Open the packaging and it was just exhausting looking at all the pieces. As I was going through the pieces it was a little like Christmas when they said to look into the basketball base for more poles. “GREAT MORE PIECES!”  Maybe it was more like the movie “cloak and dagger” (yes I dated myself if anyone remember that movie). So I put everything on my table in the garage and then thought "hey maybe I can get another person, to put this together”. Off I went to Amazon home services search for basket hoop assembly and there it was. Then I realized no service providers. Lol. Well I don't blame them. Why anyone would want to put this together is beyond me. So here we go. Took a few hours to put everything together. I would definitely say when you get to mounting the backboard section you will need a second person. I tried to be creative and I thought I invented a better way to put this together. I had to show everyone this photo. The pole is through a ladder I had set up and the backboard is resting on the table so I could put the screws into the pole and the through the backboard supports. It was a great idea and was very proud of myself until my wife came out and said what happens when you lift it up. DOH! Thankfully she came out or otherwise I would have been getting the saw and cutting the ladder off. Overall it’s a great system. I would highly recommend getting it. I played basketball in high school and college and I know what I like in a system and this one is it. I like how you can very easily adjust the height of the rim within seconds. Just push the button to release the lock and you are good to go. Very sturdy and the backboard feels pretty good for bank shots compared to “other” outdoor systems. For all those parents out there, it makes it all worth and the hours spent putting it together to see your children all excited and actually playing with it. My 7 year old boy jumped right into it and my 2 year old girl is already starting to bounce the ball. Highly recommend. Also recommend buying the base gel for the base versus getting sand. That worked too and hoping that it retains its value during the winter months. We will see.

We ordered this for our son about 18 months ago. The assembly was pretty straight forward, and the hardware is of a good quality. The hoop and backboard all seem fine and my son has spent many hours using it with no complaintsUnfortunately, the base did not hold up too well, and we ended up using bags of sand instead of water after it started leaking. We lower the hoop and backboard after use so it is better balanced, and less likely to blow over. Last week a truck backed into it and knocked the pole from the base. It basically tore it right off (the sand held the base in place), reinforcing my general opinion the base is not of great quality. However, I called the support and got a replacement base and mounting hardware for $76, which I find a reasonable price. The support folks I spoke with were very friendly and very helpful.Summary, great hoop and backboard, pretty easy to assemble and hopefully Spalding will make the base more heavy duty. I think a thicker, tougher plastic would go a long way.

Official, great quality and perfect item for any basketball fan! Easy to install but MUST FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS CAREFULLY especially the first steps: while connecting the poles we accidentally attached them wrong and didn't realize until the end when we were ready to attach the backboard that the pole were attached sideways 😁...Its NOT EASY removing the metal poles once they're together but we managed to after contacting the company who gave us clear instructions for removal and finished installing the next day...the pole connection is a common mistake so take heed!!! Otherwise total installation would have been about 2 hours with 2 adults. The kids 6-65 (grandma) has had backyard fun with this...bought it as a gift for my 9 yr old nephew and find it perfect for him! As he grows, it adjusts up to 10 feet so he'll have this for many years to come!

This was a great choice - a great quality hoop for the money. Does take some time to put together but the instructions were great. Had a Lifetime hoop before and it was way harder to put together and this just seems like better quality. 8 - 50lb bags of sand was the perfect amount. A small metal file and hammer will help push those bolts through the holes that have some paint inside them. Does have sway on shots off the backboard because it is a portable, can't beat in-ground but this is great for the price.

I used this one time and now have a pile of twisted metal in my front yard that I have to somehow get rid of. When the product first arrived and I pulled the parts out of the box I found the quality to be rather impressive. Everything seems to be made of good quality materials. The issue is in regard to the actual design of this product. To assemble the large pole the instructions are basically "bang these two poles together really hard". It literally asks you to place one part of the tall pole inside the other and knock them together. It then does not have any mechanism to secure those poles together, nor to part them. For me, this resulted in catastrophic failure when I tried to roll the base over the lip of where my driveway meets the street (about half an inch lip). The tall pole parted at the intersection (despite being secured exactly as deep as the instructions as for, and I was left holding the backboard while the remaining metal twisted and bent, fortunately in a way that didn't result in injury. This is one of the most poorly designed products I have ever purchased, and for me is literally a complete and total loss. I now have to figure out how to haul all these parts to the dump before I can spend more money on a different solution.

Instructions are terrible. Used sand and it seams sturdy enough but it's a $250 hoop at best, not a $400+ hoop on sale for $288. I guess this is what happens when a brand sells it's name to be placed on cheap Chinese junk.

Item is good