A basketball rim mounting assembly permitting multi-directional deflection in response to extraordinary forces imposed on the rim has a fixed portion coupled to a backboard and a movable portion fixed to a basketball rim. The fixed portion can include a back plate secured to a front face of the backboard and a pair of bracket plates fixed to extend forward from the back plate. A tilt regulating structure can control the extent of deflection of the rim relative to the backboard such that the extraordinary force necessary to cause the rim to break-away from its normal position is the same in any direction. The tilt regulating structure can bias a rollable member within a detent formed in the back plate. A pivot axis member can be coupled to the tilt regulating structure to define the tilt and roll axes of the movable portion relative to the fixed portion.