---

1910

John Wooden is born in Hall, Indiana. Growing up on a family farm, he gained his lifelong love of basketball by following local high school teams during the “Hoosier Hysteria” era.

1954

Ray Williams is born in Mount Vernon, New York. His older brother, Gus, was an All-Star for the SuperSonics.

1963

Larry Siegfried signs as a free agent with the Celtics. He previously had been the #3 overall pick of the Cincinnati Royals in 1961, opted instead to play in the ABL for one season, and was subsequently acquired and waived by the St. Louis Hawks before ever playing a game. Siegfried then spent a year teaching and coaching high school until his college teammate John Havlicek convinced Red Auerbach to sign him. He was eventually part of five Celtics championship teams.

1965

Dick Barnett is traded from the Lakers to the Knicks in exchange for Bob Boozer. Barnett subsequently became a Knicks legend, as a key component of the 1970 and 1973 title teams.

1967

Stephen A. Smith is born in The Bronx, New York. He was a star basketball player for Thomas Edison High School in Queens but had his playing career ended by a knee injury in college.

1968

Spencer Haywood leads the way with 16 points as the United States defeats Senegal 93-36 in group stage play at the Mexico City Olympics.

1969

Collier “P.J.” Brown is born in Detroit, Michigan. His nickname came from a childhood affinity for peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

Lenny Wilkens becomes just the second Black head coach in NBA history, taking over as player-coach of the SuperSonics, as Seattle opens the season with a road loss to the Knicks. He would eventually go down as one of the greatest coaches in NBA history, amassing 1,332 wins over 32 years and leading Seattle to the 1979 title.

1970

Jim Jackson is born in Toledo, Ohio. He was named a McDonald’s All-American in 1989 and led Macomber High School to the Ohio state championship.

1986

Wesley “Wes” Matthews, Jr. is born in San Antonio, Texas while his father, Wesley, Sr. was playing for the Spurs.

1994

“Hoop Dreams,” a critically-acclaimed documentary film following the lives of two high school basketball players with NBA aspirations, is released in theaters.

2002

China hosts a game between two NBA teams for the first time ever, when the Rockets and Kings play a pre-season match-up in Yao Ming’s hometown of Shanghai

Head coach Lon Kruger guarantees to Hawks season ticket holders that the team will break its playoff drought and reach the postseason in ’02-’03. After a slow start, Kruger is fired mid-season and replaced by Terry Stotts. When the Hawks eventually do fail to reach the 2003 playoffs for a fourth consecutive year, management is forced to make good on Kruger’s promise and issue a partial refund to season ticket holders.

2015

The Minnesota Lynx clinch their third WNBA title in a five year stretch by defeating the Indiana Fever 69-52 in a winner-take-all game five of the WNBA Finals. Sylvia Fowles is named Finals MVP.

---