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1956

Butch Lee is born in Santurce, Puerto Rico. In 1978, he became the first Latino player in NBA history and in 1980 he became the first to win an NBA title.

1980

In the first head-to-head match-up between coaches Dean Smith and Mike Krzyzewski, North Carolina defeats Duke 78-76 in a thriller. James Worthy led the #10 ranked Tar Heels with 26 points, while Matt Doherty hit the game winning free throws with 10 seconds left.

1982

Eddy Curry is born in Harvey, Illinois. He was a gymnast as a youth and didn’t pick up organized basketball until the seventh grade.

1985

Josh Smith is born in College Park, Georgia. During high school, he was teammates with Dwight Howard on an Atlanta-based AAU team.

1987

George Gervin has his jersey #44 retired by the Spurs. Over 11-and-a-half seasons with San Antonio, Gervin was an All-Star 12 times and won four scoring titles.

1988

Tina Charles is born in New York City, New York. She was named New York Ms. Basketball and a McDonald’s All-American while starring for Christ the King High School.

Lakers owner Jerry Buss sells the naming rights to The Forum to Great Western Bank, in a 15-year deal that outlasts the bank itself (which was bought out by Washington Mutual in 1997).

1996

At 18 years and 53 days, Jermaine O’Neal becomes the youngest player in NBA history when he makes his career debut for the Trail Blazers in a win over the Nuggets. His record would stand for nearly nine years until getting broken by Andrew Bynum.

2000

During a Jazz win over the Raptors, Karl Malone scores his 31,420th point, moving him into second place in the NBA all-time scoring list, passing Wilt Chamberlain. Malone eventually finished his career with 36,928 points and as of this writing, is still third all-time behind LeBron James and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

2003

Mitch Richmond has his jersey #2 retired by the Kings. In seven seasons with the Kings, Richmond made six All-Star teams and he still ranks as the franchise’s leading scorer in its Sacramento years.

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