Abstract: A basketball goal provided with a hoop from which is suspended a net, and a mounting assembly adapted normally to support the hoop on a backboard at a horizontal position. But when the hoop is subjected to a downward force by a player, the hoop is then momentarily deflected to absorb this force and thereby prevent damage to the goal and injury to the player. The assembly includes a mounting plate attached to the backboard and a hinge component secured to the front of the mounting plate, the component having a channel therein parallel to the plate and aligned at its midsection with a slot formed in the plate. Also included is a clevis formed by a rod shaped to define a pair of parallel legs that are joined to the hoop and are integral with inwardly-directed pin elements received in the channel, thereby pivoting the hoop on the hinge component, the pin elements merging with arms in abutting relation forming a cantilever crank that passes through the slot and projects from the rear of the mounting plate.