
1967
The NBA announces that San Diego has been awarded an expansion franchise named the Rockets. The team started play in ’67-’68 and wound up spending just four seasons in Southern California before relocating to Houston. The city of San Diego would get a second chance at an NBA franchise in 1978, when the Clippers relocated from Buffalo before moving on to Los Angeles in 1984.
1947
A couple months into the league’s opening season, the NBA (then BAA) votes to ban zone defenses. The rule remains in place until 2001, when zone defenses are re-instated under specific conditions.
1949
Chris Ford is born in Atlantic City, New Jersey. He set the single season and career scoring records at Holy Spirit High School.
1957
Darryl Dawkins is born in Orlando, Florida. He would later claim to have been born on the planet Lovetron as part of his “Chocolate Thunder” persona.
1980
Damien Wilkins is born in Washington, North Carolina. His father is NBA player Gerald, who was still in high school at the time of Damien’s birth.
1982
Tony Allen is born in Chicago, Illinois. Growing up on the South Side, he spent time as a “lookout boy” for local gangs to earn money for basketball shoes.
1988
Epiphanny Prince is born in New York City, New York. In 2006, she set the national girl’s prep record by scoring 106 points in a single game for Murry Bergtraum High School.
1993
Chris Boucher is born in Castries, Saint Lucia. He became the first Saint Lucian to play in the NBA but grew up in Canada and plays internationally for the Canadian team.
2000
The U.S. roster for the upcoming Olympics in Sydney is finalized, with Ray Allen, Grant Hill, and Alonzo Mourning joining the previously announced Vin Baker, Tim Duncan, Kevin Garnett, Tom Gugliotta, Tim Hardaway, Allan Houston, Jason Kidd, Gary Payton, and Steve Smith.
2005
Brevin Knight sets the Hornets single game franchise record with 20 assists in a 100-98 overtime loss to the Cavaliers.
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