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1930

Chuck Daly is born in Kane, Pennsylvania. His first coaching job came at nearby Punxsutawney High School, starting in 1955.

1944

Naismith Hall of Fame inductee Mel Daniels is born in Detroit, Michigan.

1975

Ray Allen is born in Merced, California. A military brat, he spent parts of his childhood in England and Germany before the family finally settled in South Carolina.

1976

The United States women’s team picks up its first ever win in Olympics competition, defeating Bulgaria 95-79 in Montreal to improve to 1-1 in the tournament. Nancy Dunkle is the leading American scorer with 17 points, while Trish Roberts scores 16 and Ann Meyers adds 15 points and nine assists.

For the first time ever, a United States men’s team almost loses in an Olympics group stage game, as Butch Lee leads Puerto Rico to a near upset of the Americans in Montreal. The U.S. manages to prevail 95-94 thanks to 20 points and 10 assists from Phil Ford. Lee, who was born in San Juan but raised in New York City, dropped 35 points while Neftali Rivera added 26. Despite this promising result, the Puerto Rican team ultimately lost four of their five group stage games and failed to qualify for the knockout round.

1980

The men’s and women’s tournament get underway at the Olympics in Moscow, with the host Soviet Union as the heavy favorite in both, due to the United States spearheading a boycott of the games. On the men’s side, the Soviets get a 121-65 victory over India, which was making its first and only Olympics basketball appearance. The U.S.S.R. women defeat Yugoslavia 97-62, behind 16 points and 15 rebounds from Uljana Semjonova.

1986

Kenny Smith and David Robinson lead the way for the United States, who hold off a late rally from Arvydas Sabonis and the Soviet Union to win 87-85 in the gold medal game of the FIBA World Championship in Madrid. Yugoslavia defeats Brazil 117-91 in the bronze medal game. Drazen Petrovic from Yugoslavia is named tournament MVP, while Robinson, Arvydas Sabonis, and Oscar Schmidt are named to the all-tournament team.

1991

Alec Burks is born in Grandview, Missouri. He named state Player of the Year in 2009 while starring for Grandview High School.

Dwight Powell is born in Toronto, Canada. He earned a bronze medal at the 2023 FIBA World Cup with the Canadian national team.

1993

Steven Adams is born in Rotorua, New Zealand. One of his half sisters is two-time Olympic gold medal shot putter Valerie Adams.

1996

Ben Simmons is born in Melbourne, Australia. In ’17-’18, he became the first player born outside of North America or Europe to win NBA Rookie of the Year.

The Olympics men’s tournament gets underway in Atlanta, as the United States defeats Argentina 96-68. The U.S. roster is stacked, featuring five Dream Team holdovers (Scottie Pippen, David Robinson, Charles Barkley, Karl Malone, and John Stockton) alongside Olympic rookies Shaquille O’Neal, Hakeem Olajuwon, and Gary Payton. In other first day action, Lithuania defeats Croatia 83-81 in an overtime thriller, behind 20 points and 14 rebounds from Arvydas Sabonis.

2000

Isiah Thomas is introduced as the new head coach of the Pacers, replacing Larry Bird, who stepped down as coach after just three seasons.

2003

Franchise legend Scottie Pippen returns to Chicago, signing as a free agent with the Bulls to play his final season with the team.

2024

For the second consecutive Olympics cycle, the U.S. women’s team starts off their training camp with an exhibition game loss to a team of WNBA All-Stars. Arike Ogunbowale sets an All-Star Game record with 34 points in a 117-109 victory for Team WNBA in Phoenix. Rookie sensations Angel Reese and Caitlin Clark make their All-Star debuts, with the latter setting a record with 10 assists. Diana Taurasi makes her 11th and final appearance, as she retired in the subsequent offseason.

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