Best 72-inch basketball hoops, and whether your driveway can use one

Can your driveway use 72 inches?

A 72-inch backboard is six feet wide. Centered on a two-car driveway, it leaves 7 to 9 feet on each side, which is exactly what a 60-inch board leaves on the same slab minus six inches per side, and the extra six inches of glass only comes into play on shots from the corners, which start roughly 22 feet from the baseline at the sideline. If the playable area is under about 30 feet wide, the corners are on the lawn and the 72 is a 60 with a bigger box. Where a 72 earns its keep: a wide pad, a half-court poured for the purpose, or a family that plays and practices as if it were a gym. The other thing a 72 changes is the pole. Goalrilla moves to 6x6 one-piece steel for the FT72; Lifetime moves its Mammoth pole in FRONT of the anchor plate to cut wobble; Mega Slam's is 8x6 at 5-gauge, hot-dip galvanized, with twelve gussets. A six-foot sheet of glass is a sail, and the pole is what keeps it still.

The numbers

The install at 72 inches

Goalrilla's guide is the same for every FT and GS: 16 inches in diameter, 48 inches deep, eleven 80-lb bags, 72-hour minimum cure, and “at least three capable persons.” The FT72 and the Mammoth 72 are the boards where the third and fourth person stop being optional; a 72-inch glass board with its arms is the heaviest lift in the line. Lifetime moves the Mammoth pole in front of the anchor plate to cut wobble, and the Dominator telescopes instead of pivoting, so its four feet of overhang holds at every height. Mega Slam's 72 weighs 745 lb crated. For most families a 72-inch hoop is a contractor install; installation cost puts a number on that.

The one Amazon-sold alternative to all of these is the Dominator 72, which publishes four feet of overhang held at every height and a 7-foot floor, and publishes no board thickness, pole dimension or warranty term at all. Goalrilla vs Dominator and Mega Slam vs Dominator both work through whether that trade is worth making.

Buyer's guide: regulation glass at home

Board height matters as much as width

The FT72 is 72x42 and the Mega Slam is 72x42. Lifetime, Spalding and Dominator publish a width of 72 inches and no board height, so we are not printing one. A regulation board is 72x42. If the players are learning to use the glass, the taller board is worth it.

Adjustment range decides who can play

Goalrilla runs 7.5 to 10 feet. Spalding's 888 goes to 7. Goalsetter goes to 6 and Pro Dunk and Mega Slam to 5. On a regulation board the low settings matter for younger kids and for adults practicing dunks; the youth standard from NBA and USA Basketball puts ages 7-8 on an 8-foot basket. See hoop height by age.

Rim upgrades exist for 72s

The FT72 accepts Goalrilla's 180 Breakaway Rim, which flexes side-to-side as well as front-to-back; Mega Slam sells a 180 Pro Rim upgrade; Goalsetter offers four rim styles at checkout. If anyone dunks, read breakaway vs standard rims first.

If the answer is “not 72”

The 60-inch ranking is where most two-car driveways should land, and the money saved buys the yard guard and the light.