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1950

Andy Phillip records the first official triple-double in NBA history, finishing with 17 points, 10 rebounds, and 10 assists in a 94-82 Warriors victory over the Pistons. The league had just begun tracking rebounds and assists with the ’50-’51 season.

1963

NBA champion William Bedford is born in Memphis, Tennessee.

1964

A Cazzie Russell buzzer beater gives #2 Michigan a 76-74 victory over #1 Wichita State, in what was considered, at the time, arguably the greatest game in college basketball history.

1965

Rick Barry scores 57 points in a 141-137 Warriors loss to the Knicks. At 21 years and 261 days, he sets the record for youngest player to total 50+ in a single game and would hold it for 40 years until it was broken by LeBron James. It also still stands as the second highest total ever for an NBA rookie, trailing only Wilt Chamberlain’s 58.

1966

Carl Herrera is born in Canaan, Trinidad and Tobago. He’s one of just two Trinidadian-born players in NBA history, following Ken Charles.

NBA All-Star Anthony Mason is born in Miami, Florida.

1973

Pat Burke is born in Dublin, Ireland. In 2002, he became the first Irish-born player in NBA history, when he debuted with the Magic.

1975

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar grabs a career high 34 rebounds, along with 27 points, in a 110-100 Lakers victory over the Pistons. He becomes only the fourth Lakers player to total 30+ rebounds in a single game, following George Mikan, Elgin Baylor, and Wilt Chamberlain.

1979

Swen Nater breaks his own Clippers single game franchise record with 32 rebounds in a 112-108 victory over the Nuggets. Nater, who ended up leading the NBA with 15.0 rebounds per game in the ’79-’80 season, also holds the single game franchise record for the Bucks.

1985

Pete Maravich has his jersey #7 retired by the Jazz. Over five-and-a-half seasons with the franchise, Maravich was an All-Star twice, 1st-Team All-NBA twice, and won a scoring title. It’s the only one of his jersey retirements that Maravich attends, as he passed away in 1988 before the Hawks and Pelicans followed suit.

1988

Nicolas Batum is born in Lisieux, France. He represented the French national team for over a decade, earning two Olympic silver medals, two FIBA World Cup bronze medals, and one EuroBasket title.

After starting the ’88-’89 season with an NBA record 17 consecutive losses, the expansion Heat finally pick up the first win in franchise history, an 89-88 victory over the Clippers, when a potential buzzer beater jumper from Los Angeles’ Norm Nixon is off the mark.

1990

NBA veteran Robert Covington is born in Bellwood, Illinois.

1998

Lonnie Walker IV is born in Reading, Pennsylvania. He was named Mr. Pennsylvania Basketball in 2017 while leading Reading High School to the state title.

1999

In their first game against each other in the Staples Center, their newly opened, shared arena, the Lakers (who were technically the home team) defeat the crosstown rival Clippers 95-68, behind 21 points and 19 rebounds from Shaquille O’Neal. The Lakers would go on to sweep the four-game season series between the teams.

2014

Kobe Bryant surpasses Michael Jordan for third place on the all-time NBA scoring leaderboard, with his 32,293rd point during a 100-94 Lakers victory over the Timberwolves. As of 2025, Bryant and Jordan are fourth and fifth, respectively, on the all-time list.

On this date: full archive

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