2004
With a 100-87 victory over the Lakers in game five, the Pistons close out one of the biggest upsets in NBA Finals history. Appropriately, all five Detroit starters score in double digits, led by Richard Hamilton’s 21 points. Ben Wallace dominates with 18 points and 22 rebounds, while Chauncey Billups averages 21.0 points and 5.2 assists per game for the series and is named Finals MVP. Shaquille O’Neal finishes with 20 points in his last game as a Laker and Karl Malone sits out with a knee injury in the final NBA game of his career.
1947
John Brisker is born in Detroit, Michigan. At Hamtramck High School, his teammates included fellow future NBA player Rudy Tomjanovich.
1970
Zan Tabak is born in Split, Croatia (then Yugoslavia). His pro career started at age 15 with the hometown squad KK Split.
1975
Tournament MVP Kresimir Cosic leads host Yugoslavia to its second consecutive EuroBasket title, clinching the tournament with a 90-84 round robin victory over the Soviet Union in Belgrade. A second place finish gives the Soviet Union a medal in 13 straight EuroBaskets. Italy finishes in third place.
1977
NBA champion Michael Doleac is born in San Antonio, Texas.
1983
At the NBA awards banquet, Moses Malone of the 76ers is named NBA league MVP for the ’82-’83 season, in a near unanimous vote. Larry Bird finishes second in voting and Magic Johnson finishes third. Malone, who had led the Sixers to an NBA title just two weeks prior, becomes the first player since Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in 1971 to earn league MVP and Finals MVP in the same season. Additionally, Sidney Moncrief of the Bucks is named the inaugural winner of the NBA Defensive Player of the Year award and Bobby Jones of the champion 76ers is named the inaugural winner of the NBA Sixth Man of the Year award.
1985
Salah Mejri is born in Jendouba, Tunisia. In 2015, he became the first Tunisian player in NBA history, when he debuted with the Mavericks.
Leilani Mitchell is born in Richland, Washington. Her Australian citizenship comes from her mother, who was born in the country and immigrated to the U.S.
2001
The Lakers finish off arguably the most dominant postseason in NBA history with a 108-96 victory over the 76ers in game five of the NBA Finals. Shaquille O’Neal is named Finals MVP for the second straight year as the Lakers finish with a 15-1 record in the playoffs. Allen Iverson averaged 35.6 points per game in a valiant losing effort, in the only NBA Finals appearance of his career.
2003
The Spurs defeat the Nets 88-77 in game six of the NBA Finals to clinch their second title. Tim Duncan is named Finals MVP while David Robinson and Steve Kerr get to retire as champions.
2014
The Spurs exact some revenge for the previous year’s Finals, finishing off the Heat with a 104-87 win in the deciding NBA Finals game five. Kawhi Leonard is named Finals MVP while Tim Duncan celebrates the fifth and final title of his career. This was also LeBron James’ final game in a Heat uniform, before returning to the Cavaliers as a free agent in the subsequent offseason.
More on the NBA Finals
- Mamba’s den mates: Ranking the 31 players who won a title as Kobe Bryant’s Lakers teammate
- Won’t see my picture on the cover: 10 NBA Finals that weren’t featured on a Sports Illustrated cover
- Who’s going to Disney World?: Seven controversial NBA Finals MVP choices
- Foregone conclusion: 10 playoff series that were considered “virtual” NBA Finals
- Slamming the door shut: 19 winner-take-all NBA playoff game blowouts
- Don’t you forget about me: 80 basketball moments from the ’80s that changed the sport forever
- Can’t blame me: 15 greatest individual NBA Finals performances in a losing effort
- New look, same result: Five players who won back-to-back championships with a different team each year
- No one believed in us: 14 biggest upsets in NBA Finals history
- Pressure valves: 23 NBA rookies who made a major impact in the postseason
More on the Pistons
- Player hater’s ball: Eight players who have antagonized an city’s entire fan base
- Won’t see my picture on the cover: 10 NBA Finals that weren’t featured on a Sports Illustrated cover
- Faces in the crowd: 12 NBA celebrity superfans
- Branded crews: 15 collective basketball nicknames
- All over the map: Eight times that the NBA realigned teams across conferences
- The name game: 13 current NBA franchises that have changed names
- Slamming the door shut: 19 winner-take-all NBA playoff game blowouts
- Testing the waters and creating a ripple: 15 free agency signings that changed the NBA
- Larry Bird isn’t walking through that door: 14 successful NCAA coaches who struggled at the NBA level
- Get in loser, we’re winning a title: Nine in-season free agent signees of NBA champs
Basketball, Listed 