Lifetime Portable Basketball Hoop, Adjustable Height 7.5-10 Ft, 44 Inch Shatterproof Fusion Backboard, Base with Wheels

*The Pitch*: I haven’t had a basketball hoop in front of my house in 20 years. So I didn’t want to spend a lot in case I ended up not using it that much. *The Package*: This is a retail package. It’s a large bound cardboard box with black print. *The Fit*: This is a great starter hoop. At under $150, I’m pretty pleased with this purchase. The entire goal was relatively easy to put together. I did it by myself in about 1.5 hrs. Just be careful with it once it’s fully constructed but before you add water or sand to the base. It is pretty wobbly in this state. I will also add that I chose to fill the base with water and an added BaseGel polymeric stabilizer. It was MUCH easier than adding sand, and due to the way it evenly solidified, I feel like it’s more stable overall. I have no issues with wavering or moving during play. The ball does feel a little less springy when bouncing off the backboard, but that is to be expected with just about any portable hoop. It’s not particularly noticeable, and it doesn’t affect gameplay. *The Good*: Easy to build and relatively inexpensive. *The Bad*: Rebounding balls are a little less springy, but only a little. The backboard is a little small (but every goal in this price range was the same size) *The Bottom Line*: I researched basketball goals for a week before I settled on this one. I was worried about the quality due to the low cost, but it has a very high overall rating for a reason. I don’t think you can buy a better hoop for the money.

Perfect for my grandson. He loves the Magic and this get's him off the devices and outside to play. Quality is Ok. Hoping it holds up well.

This is a very good recreational basketball hoop that is portable. The base is the type that can be filled with water to sturdy the pole, rim, and backboard. I have found that it works very well by placing sandbags on the base. That way you get the weight you need to anchor it and can just take the sand bags off the base and wheel the hoop back into storage when needed. The assembly is very easy and once assembled the height adjustment is smooth and straight forward. The 44" backboard is the perfect size for this kind of hoop. While not regulation, it is much larger than most of this kind and is easy to find a place to store. Also, the backboard is thick clear acrylic which is a nice touch. The rim is fine and provides good feedback from the ball, but just make sure that if you are dunking do not hang on it. It's great for neighborhoods like mine that do not allow basketball hoops to be ground mounted or stay outside for more than a few days at a time. I use it for pick up games with other adults. Also, I let my neighbor's children use it at their desired height. Overall, it has been a great hoop that is nice to play on and has held up very well over the past few years. For the price with shipping from Prime I am very happy. Having a package this large shipped to your front door is a big plus.

The instructions are pretty involved and when you get to the end (screwing in the hoop and the backboard, standing it up and filling it with water), you really do need two people but I just took my time and read the directions carefully and it all came together fairly easily. It's sturdy enough and the price is right, I have a functional basketball rim for about $200. If I see any design flaw (and honestly, not sure what else they could do), it's when you pop a 20 footer, nothing but net, the ball drops and often hits the base, shooting off in one direction or another. But not sure there's any other way to design a pole and rim like this.

Setup took a bit of time but the instructions were straightforward. Once it’s up, you can immediately tell it’s built strong. The rim has a nice bounce to it and it's easy to move when needed. The Lakers colors really pop — my neighbors noticed right away! Highly recommend! I like the adjustable size.

2/8/2015 Update: Changing this rating to 5 stars. This has become a regular part of our family's activities. We recently had a family gathering and it was used by all the kids and adults alike - a great time for all. I was able to get 200lb of sand in it but it was a very tedious task due to the filler holes being so small. I also put an extra 50lb bag of sand on the base for extra stability. Our driveway slants a bit, so I also used tie-downs to secure it to eye-bolts on the roof. I am very happy with the quality of this product as well as the quality of the company, Lifetime - they stand behind their product. I would not hesitate to recommend this purchase to anyone. 12/30/2014 Update: I am adjusting my rating from 2 to 4 stars. I just received the missing part from Lifetime - much quicker than the January time frame I was originally told. This company deserves 5 stars for its customer service. I will make one more update after I have assembled it and tested it with my kids. Original review (12/26/2014): The low rating is not about the quality or usability of this product as I was not able to get that far. Amazon was great and promptly shipped it within 2 days in early December. After Christmas, when I tried to assemble it, I discovered that it did not contain the correct parts. The pole is comprised of three unique pole sections. Our package contained a top and two middle sections. Needless to say we were unable to assemble this Christmas gift for my 8 year old son. I contacted the manufacturer and they were nice enough to correct the problem with no hassle. However, the missing part won't be able to be shipped out until January - not very happy about that since the kids are out of school now and could have really taken advantage of it now.

The directions were pretty clear. I did almost the entire assembly. There were a couple times in the process when it was a little hard to do without any help. I wish they had warned me earlier in the directions that a couple metal bars were meant to bend: I freaked out when I took a brief break (and therefore let the partially assembled thing rest on the ground) and found that one of the pieces had bent. Well, that was the part meant to be bendable. For now, I have used the option to fill it with water. With water in it, it is fairly hard to move (yes, it has wheels, but the wheels engage only if the pole is partly tipped, and it is hard to tip it. That's the point, after all: when it is fully loaded, it should NOT tip). I would not recommend sand for anyone on the smaller size (like my wife and I) if you have any intention of ever wanting to move it. As it is, when I need to store it more safely in winter (when the winds pick up where I live), I will have to drain off some of the water (which won't be the easiest thing, but I imagine that removing sand would be far worse). It vibrates a little when the ball hits the backboard, but it won't interfere with playing. So while I give only 4 stars for each of "easy to assemble", "maneuverability" and "sturdiness", it basically does what I want (for my son), so I am happy for the cost. I have not had it long, but I will downgrade the rating only if something goes wrong.

Perfect for us! In hindsight, I recommend preparing the sand in advance for the assembly. You will need at least 6 (50pound) bags of play sand plus a long neck funnel. I cut about an inch of the skinny end off mine. NOTE: the sand needs to be *completely* dried out to run smoothly into the holes of the base. When you buy it in bags, it's damp and won't flow. It helps to buy it way ahead and dump into bins or a tarp, and keep out of the rain. It should be the consistency of freshly opened sugar when it's dry - no clumps. I used an oval plastic water pitcher to dump the sand into the funnel. But during this long process, I was imagining it would be better to have about 6 strong young men(basketball players, of course) hold up the tarp while I pushed in the sand. Haha Lifetime recommends sand over water for a number of reasons, although you can get by for a bit with water. We've had the pleasure of having a fire ant colony under and around our old water-filled hoop, so this time we used bone-dry sand plus some fire ant granules. Lol

Used it for two weeks. Relatively easy to install. Work as expected, the board is a bit bouncy, but for the price it's perfect. The adjustable height will make it last a long time.

Solide. Easy to assemble. Good quality-price and a lot of fun!!!

Straight forward assembly. Filled with sand...no funnel supplied, and one plug for two smallish filler holes. Very stable now, kids enjoying it (ages 10 & 13). Would get an opaque board next time to block the sun in the ol' eyes

A great option but it is definitely a two person setup job.

It was a gift for my kids and they love it.