---

1922

Howie Dallmar is born in San Francisco, California. In addition to starring on the basketball team at Lowell High School, he was also an accomplished baseball player, and turned down a minor league contract to play basketball at Stanford.

1946

Jim Eakins is born in Sacramento, California. He was the first Sacramento–born player to ever suit up for the Kings, thought it was in 1976, when the franchise was still based in Kansas City.

1954

Mitch Kupchak is born in Hicksville, New York. He starred on the basketball team at Brentwood High School and was inducted into the Suffolk Sports Hall of Fame in 1990.

1963

Joe Dumars is born in Shreveport, Louisiana. He was inducted into the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame in 2004.

1964

Rolando Ferreira is born in Curitiba, Brazil. In 1988, he became the first Brazilian player in NBA history when he made his debut for the Trail Blazers.

1970

For the third consecutive FIBA World Championship, the United States loses in their final game to Brazil, this time sealing a disappointing fifth place finish, the worst thus far for the U.S. Meanwhile, the host Yugoslavians had already clinched their first gold medal with a victory over the United States two days prior. The Brazilians earn silver, their fifth consecutive FIBA Worlds medal, while the U.S.S.R. wins the bronze. Sergei Belov of the Soviet Union is named tournament MVP.

1979

Tracy McGrady is born in Bartow, Florida. It wasn’t until a family reunion in 1997 that he realized he was cousins with Vince Carter.

1981

Penny Taylor is born in Melbourne, Australia. She attended the Australian Institute of Sport and led the team to its first ever title in the Australian Women’s National Basketball League in 1999.

1984

Brazil defeats Puerto Rico 109-107 in São Paulo to clinch its first FIBA AmeriCup title. Uruguay finishes in second place and Canada in third, clinching spots in the upcoming Olympics in Los Angeles. The United States opted not to participate, as they had already secured an Olympic spot as the host nation.

1993

Lenny Wilkens resigns as head coach of the Cavaliers after seven seasons. He is replaced by Mike Fratello and soon after takes a head coaching job with the Hawks.

Despite having the longest odds of the 11 eligible teams with just a 1.52% chance, the Magic win the draft lottery for the second consecutive year. They eventually use the #1 pick on Chris Webber, then trade him to the Warriors in exchange for the draft rights to Penny Hardaway.

1998

The Jazz complete a Western Conference Finals sweep of the Lakers with a 96-92 victory in game four. Karl Malone finishes with 32 points and 14 rebounds as Utah advances to the NBA Finals for the second consecutive year.

1999

The Knicks become the first #8 seed ever to advance to a Conference Finals by finishing a Conference Semifinals sweep of the Hawks with a 79-66 victory in game four.

2003

The Nets clinch their second consecutive NBA Finals appearance, finishing an Eastern Conference Finals sweep of the Pistons with a 102-82 victory in game four. Jason Kidd leads New Jersey with 26 points, 12 rebounds, and seven assists.

2005

Maurice Cheeks is hired as head coach of the 76ers, replacing the fired Jim O’Brien. Despite his leadership skills and franchise legend status, Cheeks struggled in his coaching role, feuding with star player Allen Iverson and eventually getting fired after less than four seasons in charge.

2018

The Rockets defeat the Warriors 98-94 in game five of their Western Conference Finals series to take a shocking 3-2 series lead, but also lose Chris Paul late in the game to a hamstring injury. With Paul sidelined, the Warriors win the last two games of the series to avoid the upset and advance to their fourth consecutive NBA Finals.

---