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1975

Zydrunas Ilgauskas is born in Kaunas, Lithuania (then the Soviet Union). His favorite player growing up was Arvydas Sabonis, who was playing at the time for the hometown Zalgiris Kaunas.

1977

WNBA All-Star Tamika Whitmore is born in Tupelo, Mississippi.

1981

The Soviet Union defeats Yugoslavia 84-67 in the EuroBasket Final in Prague, earning their 13th title. Valdis Valters is named tournament MVP while Yugoslavia’s Kresimir Cosic becomes the second player ever to earn seven EuroBasket medals, after Sergei Belov. The host Czechs defeat Spain in the bronze medal game.

1988

Austin Daye is born in Irvine, California. His father Darren was a high school All-American, played at UCLA, and spent five seasons in the NBA.

1989

Ed Davis is born in Washington, D.C. His father Terry soon after signed with the Heat as an un-drafted free agent and ultimately played in the NBA for over a decade.

1991

In an NBA Finals game two victory over the Lakers, Michael Jordan finishes with 33 points and 13 assists and provides one of his signature highlight moments, an acrobatic lay-up in which he switches hands with the ball mid-air.

1992

Clyde Drexler’s 26 points leads the Trail Blazers to a surprising 115-104 road victory over the Bulls in game two of the NBA Finals. It evens the series at 1-1 but the Bulls go on to win in six games.

1993

Charles Barkley puts on a massive performance, with 44 points and 24 rebounds, leading the Suns to a 123-110 victory over the SuperSonics in the winner-take-all game seven of the Western Conference Finals.

1994

A hotly contested Eastern Conference Finals comes to an end, with the Knicks defeating the Pacers 94-90 in game seven. Patrick Ewing leads the way with 24 points, 22 rebounds, and seven assists.

1999

Trailing 91-88 late in game three of the Eastern Conference Finals against the Pacers, the Knicks get an improbable four-point play from Larry Johnson to take the lead. Johnson hits a three-pointer while getting fouled by Indiana’s Dale Davis. On the ensuing possession, Mark Jackson misses a pull-up jumper and the Knicks hold on to win.

2014

Timberwolves president Flip Saunders installs himself as head coach, replacing the retiring Rick Adelman. It was Saunder’s second stint as head coach in Minnesota, following a 10 year run from 1995 to 2005. But this time it’s cut tragically short as Saunders coaches only year before retiring due to a Hodgkin’s lymphoma diagnosis.

2019

During game three of the NBA Finals, Warriors minority owner Mark Stevens shoves Toronto’s Kyle Lowry, when the latter have entered the courtside front row chasing a loose ball. Lowry finishes the game with 23 points and nine assists as the Raptors win 123-109 to take a 2-1 series lead, while Stevens was later banned from NBA games for a year and fined $500,000 by the league office.

2021

The Heat’s home stadium officially becomes FTX Arena (formerly American Airlines Arena), after the cryptocurrency exchange acquires the naming rights in a 19-year contract. But just 18 months later, the deal is terminated as FTX files for bankruptcy amidst its founder facing federal fraud charges.

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