A dedication to basketball history, catalogued and ranked for posterity, then presented in convenient list form

On this date in basketball history: December 7

Calvin Murphy sets an NCAA scoring record; an NBA referee lockout is lifted; Larry Legend is born

Published on


1968

In a 118-100 victory over Syracuse, Niagara’s Calvin Murphy scores 68 points, setting the NCAA Division I single game scoring record. It broke the mark previously held by Washington and Lee’s Jay Handlan since 1951, but would stand for just two years before getting broken by Pete Maravich.


1925

Max Zaslofsky is born in Brooklyn, New York. He was inducted into the New York City Basketball Hall of Fame in 1993.

1956

Larry Bird is born in West Baden Springs, Indiana. His family soon after re-located to nearby French Lick.

1982

Lou Amundson is born in Ventura, California. He attempted to receive Swedish citizenship as an adult through his immigrant father in order to play for the national team but was denied.

1983

Al Thornton is born in Perry, Georgia. In his final game for Perry High School, Thornton scored 53 points, catching the attention of Florida State coach Leonard Hamilton, who recruited him to the school.

1989

Kevin Seraphin is born in Cayenne, French Guiana. In 2011, he became the first Guianese NBA player.

1990

John Williamson has his jersey #23 retired by the New Jersey Nets. An early star of the team’s ABA days, Williamson became the first player to be honored as such by the franchise.

1995

The NBA and the Referees Association agree to terms on a new labor agreement, ending a lockout that had lasted over two months.