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1944

NCAA and NBA champion Keith Erickson is born in San Francisco, California.

1949

The Anderson Packers defeat the Oshkosh All-Stars 88-64 to clinch the final championship in the National Basketball League. Both the Packers and All-Stars would be part of the merger into the NBA later in the year.

1968

The Celtics defeat the 76ers 100-96 in game seven of the Eastern Conference Finals, becoming the first team ever to overcome a 3-1 series deficit in the NBA playoffs.

1970

The Lakers finish a sweep of the Hawks in the Western Conference Finals with a 133-114 victory in game four. It was the Hawks’ 12th Conference Finals appearance in a 15 year stretch, but it would take them 45 years to return after this, finally making it back in 2015.

1981

The Kansas City Kings complete a stunning Western Conference Semifinals upset over the Suns with a 95-88 victory in game seven. Ernie Grunfeld and Reggie King score 23 points each to lead the Kings. The Suns had had won 57 games in the ’80-’81 season and entered the playoffs as the #1 seed in the West while the Kings had a losing record at 40-42 and were the #5 seed.

1985

Michael Jordan makes his NBA postseason debut with 23 points and 10 assists in a 109-100 Bulls loss to the Bucks in game one of an Eastern Conference first round series. The Bucks would go on to win the best-of-five series in four games.

1986

Candace Parker is born in St. Louis, Missouri. Her older brother Anthony is a EuroLeague legend and played six seasons in the NBA.

Spud Webb breaks Magic Johnson’s rookie record for assists in a single NBA playoff game, finishing with 18 for the Hawks, plus 19 points and seven rebounds, as they defeat the Pistons in game two of a first round playoff series. Dominique Wilkins scores 50 points in the victory, tying Bob Pettit for the Hawks franchise single game playoff record.

1988

Julius Erving has his jersey #6 retired by the 76ers in a pre-game ceremony that also includes the unveiling of a statue of his likeness outside The Spectrum.

1991

Kelly Olynyk is born in Toronto, Canada. His father Ken was a longtime basketball coach at the University of Toronto while his mother Arlene was the first female official scorekeeper in NBA history.

Moses Malone breaks the record for most consecutive NBA games played without fouling out, 1,046, by appearing for the Hawks in a loss to the Pistons. The record was previously held by Wilt Chamberlain.

1992

Dennis Rodman finishes the ’91-’92 season with 18.7 rebounds per game, leading the league for the first of what would eventually be seven consecutive years. The 18.7 mark remains the highest average by any player in a post-merger season.

1996

The 76ers play their final home game at The Spectrum, a 112-92 loss to the Magic. They move into the new CoreStates Center for the ’96-’97 season.

1998

Moses Malone has his jersey #24 retired by the Rockets. Over six seasons with Houston, Malone was an All-Star five times, an MVP twice, and a rebounding champion three times.

1999

Luguentz Dort is born in Montreal, Canada. He was part of the Canadian national team that won bronze in the 2023 FIBA World Cup.

2001

Leonard Hamilton resigns as head coach of the Wizards after just one season, with four years left on his contract. He is eventually replaced by Doug Collins.

2002

Four University of Connecticut teammates are amongst the first six picks in the WNBA Draft. Sue Bird goes #1 overall to the Seattle Storm, Swin Cash is selected second overall by the Detroit Shock, Asjha Jones is selected fourth overall by the Washington Mystics, and Tamika Williams is selected sixth overall by the Minnesota Lynx.

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