---

1956

Bill Russell leads the way with 26 points and 27 rebounds as San Francisco wins its second consecutive NCAA Tournament title with a 83-71 National Final win over Iowa.

1958

Mike Woodson is born in Indianapolis, Indiana.

1960

The first playoff series matching up Wilt Chamberlain and Bill Russell ends, unsurprisingly, with Russell’s Celtics emerging victorious, clinching the Eastern Conference Finals with a 119-117 game six win over Chamberlain’s Warriors. Russell finishes the game with 25 points and 25 rebounds, while Chamberlain has 26 points and 24 rebounds.

The Lakers play their final home game in Minneapolis, a 117-96 loss to the St. Louis Hawks in game six of the Western Conference Finals. In the ensuing offseason, the Lakers re-locate from Minneapolis to Los Angeles. The Hawks tie the series 3-3 with the victory, then went on to win game seven two days later to advance to the NBA Finals.

1962

In a rematch from the previous years’ National Final, Cincinnati once again defeats Ohio State to take the NCAA tournament title. Most Outstanding Player Paul Hogue leads the way with 22 points and 19 rebounds in a 71-59 Bearcats victory in Louisville. In their last game in a Buckeyes uniform, Jerry Lucas and John Havlicek score 11 points each.

1965

For a record fifth (and final) time, Bill Russell is named league MVP of the NBA. Oscar Robertson finishes a distant second place in voting, followed by Jerry West in third. Only Kareem Abdul-Jabbar has since won more MVP trophies than Russell.

1972

The Royals play their final home game in Cincinnati, a 132-114 win over the Baltimore Bullets. In the ensuing offseason, the franchise re-locates from Cincinnati to Kansas City.

1979

Lloyd Neal has his jersey #36 retired by the Trail Blazers. Though his career was cut short after just six seasons due to a knee injury, Neal was honored by Portland for his contributions to the 1977 title team.

1980

Louisville wins its first ever NCAA Tournament title by defeating UCLA 59-54 in the National Final in Indianapolis. Darrell Griffith leads all scorers with 23 points and is named Most Outstanding Player of the tournament.

1981

Dave DeBusschere has his jersey #22 retired by the Knicks in a halftime ceremony at Madison Square Garden. He is the third Knicks player to have a retired jersey, joining his championship teammates Willis Reed and Walt Frazier.

1983

T.J. Ford is born in Houston, Texas.

1984

Chris Bosh is born in Dallas, Texas.

1990

Christian Laettner beats the buzzer with a floating jumper to give Duke a 79-78 overtime victory over Connecticut in the NCAA Tournament Regional Finals. It’s the second game in a row for UConn that’s won on a final shot, as they had defeated Clemson in the prior round on a buzzer beater of their own from Tate George.

Tom Chambers sets the Suns single game franchise record with 60 points in a 121-95 victory over the SuperSonics. The record would stand for exactly 27 years until getting broken by Devin Booker on the same date in 2017.

1996

Myles Turner is born in Bedford, Texas.

1999

Nate McMillan has his #10 jersey retired by the SuperSonics in a halftime ceremony of a Sonics loss to the Wizards. In the fourth quarter of the game, Gary Payton collects his 1,546th career steal, surpassing McMillan as the franchise’s all-time leader.

2001

During a Jazz win over the Wizards, Karl Malone becomes the all-time NBA leader in career free throws, surpassing Moses Malone with his 8,532nd made free throw.

2013

Florida Gulf Coast becomes the first #15 seed ever to reach the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament, by stunning #7 seed San Diego State 81-71 in a second round game.

2017

Devin Booker becomes the youngest player in NBA history to score 70 points in a game, dropping 70 at 20 years and 125 days in a 130-120 Suns loss to the Celtics. It also breaks Tom Chambers’ single game franchise record, which had stood for exactly 27 years.

2018

#11 seed Loyola-Chicago dominates #9 seed Kansas State 78-62 in the NCAA Tournament South Regional Final in Atlanta. It culminates an incredible run through the tournament for the Ramblers, en route to a surprise Final Four appearance. Loyola’s Ben Richardson leads all scorers with 23 points and is named Most Outstanding Player of the region.

2019

Marques Johnson has his jersey #8 retired by the Bucks.

---