2014
The United States defeats Serbia 129-92 in the gold medal game in Madrid to win its second consecutive FIBA World Cup title. Kyrie Irving finishes with 26 points and is named tournament MVP. It’s a fifth overall FIBA title for the U.S., which ties them with the now defunct Yugoslavia for the most all time. Irving is joined on the All-Tournament team by American teammate Kenneth Faried, alongside Spain’s Pau Gasol and France’s Nicolas Batum.
1935
Longtime NBA and ABA executive Mark “Mike” Storen is born in Michigan City, Indiana.
1940
Coaching legend Larry Brown is born in Brooklyn, New York.
1954
Lars Hansen is born in Copenhagen, Denmark. He gained dual Canadian citizenship when his family moved to Vancouver when he was a child, and later played basketball for the University of Washington. In 1978, Hansen became the first Danish player in NBA history and at the end of the season with the SuperSonics, the first Canadian player to win an NBA title.
1984
76ers draftee Leon Wood files an anti-trust lawsuit against the NBA, on the grounds that the league’s salary cap was limiting his earning potential. The case was eventually dismissed and Wood signed his rookie contract with Philadelphia and spent six seasons in the league.
1989
Jimmy Butler is born in Houston, Texas. He was abandoned by his father as an infant and by his mother as a teenager, forcing him to stay with friends throughout high school.
1994
Gary Harris is born in Fishers, Indiana. His mother, Joy, was an All-American at Purdue and played one season in the WNBA.
1999
Nuggets general manager Dan Issel installs himself as the franchise’s head coach for a second time, taking over for the fired Mike D’Antoni.
2003
Lithuania defeats Spain 93-84 in the EuroBasket Final in Stockholm. Tournament MVP Sarunas Jasikevicius leads the Lithuanians with 21 points, while Pau Gasol finishes with 36 points and 12 rebounds in the losing effort. Italy defeats France 69-67 in the third place game to clinch a spot in the 2004 Olympics tournament.
2019
Following consecutive losses to France in the quarterfinals and Serbia in a classification match, the United States is able to salvage one final win at the FIBA World Cup, defeating Poland 87-74 in the seventh place game in Beijing. It’s the worst finish in World Cup history for the U.S. but the silver lining is that they clinch qualification in the upcoming Olympics by virtue of finishing second in the tournament amongst Americas teams.
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