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1948

Four-time ABA All-Star Billy Paultz is born in River Edge, New Jersey.

Don Barksdale becomes the first Black American to participate in an Olympics basketball game, an 86-21 United States preliminary round win over Switzerland. He would later also become the first Black player to participate in an NBA All-Star Game.

1957

Bill Cartwright is born in Lodi, California. He was California High School State Player of the Year in 1974 and 1975 while playing for Elk Grove High School.

1963

Chris Mullin is born in Brooklyn, New York. An All-American at St. John’s, Mullin won the Hagerty Award for best New York college basketball player three times.

1972

Jim McIlvaine is born in Racine, Wisconsin. He matriculated about 30 miles away at Marquette University, where he set a school record for blocked shots.

1979

Carlos Arroyo is born in Fajardo, Puerto Rico. He was the leading scorer for the Puerto Rico national team when they stunned the United States in the preliminary round of the 2004 Olympics tournament.

Jack McKinney is hired as head coach of the Lakers. He would remain in charge for just 14 games until injuries suffered in a bike accident force him to step aside for his top assistant, Paul Westhead.

1980

The Soviet Union women’s team earn their second consecutive Olympics gold medal with a 104-73 victory over Bulgaria in the gold medal game in Moscow. Uljana Semjonova drops 27 points and 21 rebounds, and finishes the tournament averaging a dominating 21.8 points and 12.5 rebounds per game. Yugoslavia earns the bronze medal with a 68-65 victory over Hungary.

Yugoslavia defeats Italy 86-77 in the men’s gold medal game of the Olympics in Moscow, earning their first and only Olympic gold medal. Highlighted by legendary players Kresimir Cosic and Drazen Dalipagic, the Yugoslavian team was aided by the United States boycotting the Olympic games. In the bronze medal game, Sergey Belov scores 29 points to lead the Soviet Union to a 117-94 victory over Spain. Belov, who was 36 years old at the time, ended his national team career with a fourth Olympic medal.

1984

The Olympics women’s tournament gets underway in Los Angeles, with only six teams participating due to a Soviet-led boycott. The United States opens play with an 83-55 victory over Yugoslavia, led by 23 points and eight rebounds from Cheryl Miller. Meanwhile, China defeats Australia 67-64 in a battle of confederations making their Olympics debut.

1990

In the inaugural Goodwill Games men’s basketball tournament, Yugoslavia defeats the United States 85-79 in the gold medal game in Seattle. It marks the third straight major international tournament in which the U.S. falls short of gold, following the 1987 Pan American Games and the 1988 Olympics. Toni Kukoc and Jurij Zdovec lead the Yugoslavians, while Alonzo Mourning and Billy Owens are solid for the Americans in defeat. The Soviet Union had defeated Brazil earlier in the bronze medal game.

1992

The women’s tournament group stage gets underway at the Barcelona Olympics, with the United States defeating Czechoslovakia 111-65. Seven American players score in double digits, led by Cynthia Cooper’s 18 points, plus 16 points each from Clarissa Davis and Teresa Edwards. Meanwhile, Cuba pulls off a stunning 91-89 upset over the Unified Team (formerly the Soviet Union) and Spain makes its Olympics debut with a 66-63 loss to China.

1993

Leslie Alexander purchases the Rockets from Charlie Thomas for $85 million. The team would go on to win NBA titles in Alexander’s first two seasons of ownership.

1996

Two-time WNBA All-Star Ariel Atkins is born in Dallas, Texas.

In quarterfinals action at the Olympics in Atlanta, Shaquille O’Neal drops a double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds as the United States men’s team defeats Brazil 98-75. In his final appearance with the national team at age 38, Brazilian legend Oscar Schmidt scores 26 points. Meanwhile, Andrew Gaze scores 26 points to lead Australia to a 73-71 upset over Croatia, while Lithuania defeats Greece 99-66 and Yugoslavia cruises past China 128-61.

1998

A streak of 10 consecutive FIBA World Championship wins for the U.S. men’s team is broken with a 84-82 preliminary round loss to Lithuania in Athens. Arturas Karnisovas leads the Lithuanians with 29 points. The United States recovers the next day to defeat South Korea to advance to the second round.

2020

At the AdventHealth Arena on the campus of Walt Disney World, the NBA’s ’19-’20 season re-commences with the Jazz defeating the Pelicans 106-104.

2024

The men’s and women’s 3×3 tournaments get underway at the Paris Olympics. The U.S. men’s team makes its Olympics debut after failing to qualify in 2020. Led by former NCAA scoring champion Jimmer Fredette and Rick Barry’s youngest son Canyon, the U.S. loses their opener 22-14 to Serbia. The U.S. women, led by WNBA All-Stars Dearica Hamby and Rhyne Howard, also lose in their first game, a 17-13 defeat at the hands of Germany.

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