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1922

Billy Gabor is born in Binghamton, New York. His spent his entire basketball playing career in Western New York, going from Binghamton East High School to Binghamton University to the Syracuse Nationals of the NBA.

1948

NBA champion Dean Meminger is born in Walterboro, South Carolina.

1961

Dennis Rodman is born in Trenton, New Jersey. His “Worm” nickname came about from his mom during childhood, referencing his wiggling movements while playing pinball.

1976

Trajan Langdon is born in Palo Alto, California. His family soon after re-located to Alaska, where he was a star player on the East Anchorage High School basketball team, setting the state career scoring record.

1977

The Trail Blazers finish off a surprising Western Conference Finals sweep of the Lakers with a 105-101 victory in game four of the series. Maurice Lucas leads the way with 26 points and 12 rebounds as Portland advances to the NBA Finals for the first time in franchise history.

1978

Mike Bibby is born in Cherry Hill, New Jersey. His father Henry was playing for the 76ers at the time, while his uncle Jim was pitching for the Pittsburgh Pirates.

1979

Bill Walton signs as a free agent with the San Diego Clippers, ending a successful but tumultuous tenure with the Trail Blazers. The Trail Blazers received Kevin Kunnert, Kermit Washington, and a first round pick as compensation.

1984

The Celtics finally finish off a pesky Knicks team in the Eastern Conference Semifinals, with a 121-104 victory in game seven. Larry Bird finishes with 39 points, 12 rebounds, and 10 assists.

1993

Emma Meesseman is born in Ypres, Belgium. Her pro career started at age 16 in her hometown, playing for the Ypres Blue Cats.

1994

Del Harris is hired as head coach of the Lakers, replacing Magic Johnson. Harris would go on to earn Coach of the Year honors in his first season in Los Angeles.

During game three of their Conference Semifinals series, the Knicks and Bulls engage an all-out brawl that spills into the stands right in front of commissioner David Stern, who is in attendance. In the ensuing offseason, this incident inspires Stern to push for automatic suspensions of players leaving the bench during fights. The same game also features the infamous moment in which Scottie Pippen benched himself for the final play, which Phil Jackson drew up for Toni Kukoc (who hit the buzzer beater to give the Bulls a 104-102 win).

1999

Allen Iverson nabs an NBA playoff record 10 steals in one game, along with 33 points in a 97-85 76ers win over the Magic in game three of their Eastern Conference Quarterfinals series.

2001

Kobe Bryant finishes with 48 points and 16 rebounds to lead the Lakers to a 119-113 victory over the Sacramento Kings in game four of the Western Conference Semifinals, finishing a sweep of their in-state rivals.

2008

With a 91-86 victory over the Magic in game five of the Eastern Conference Semifinals, the Pistons clinch their sixth consecutive Eastern Conference Finals appearance. It’s the second longest such streak of the modern Conference Finals era (since 1971), trailing only the Lakers’ eight straight from 1982 to 1989. The streak is broken in 2009 with a first round series loss to Cleveland.

2010

Impending free agent LeBron James rips off his jersey in frustration while storming off the court, after the top seed Cavaliers are eliminated from the playoffs with a 94-85 loss to the Celtics in game six of the Eastern Conference Semifinals. James finished the game with 27 points, 19 rebounds, and 10 assists, but also committed nine turnovers and shot just 8-of-21 from the field. Just a couple months later, he would announce his intentions to leave Cleveland and sign with the Heat.

2012

Georgios Printezis hits the game winner with less than one second remaining to give Olympiacos a 62-61 victory over CSKA Moscow in the EuroLeague championship game.

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