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1944

ABA legend Louie Dampier is born in Indianapolis, Indiana. He was inducted into the Indiana Sports Hall of Fame in 2020.

1965

Chick Hearn broadcasts a college football game in Arkansas and has his ensuing flight back to Los Angeles cancelled, causing him to miss the Lakers game that evening. The next day, he’s back in the booth for the Lakers and begins a streak of 3,338 consecutive broadcasts, which ends in December 2001.

1967

NBA veteran Chris Childs is born in Bakersfield, California.

1975

Mengke Bateer is born in Hangjin Banner, China. In 2003 with the Spurs, he became the first Chinese-born player to win an NBA championship.

1981

Carlos Boozer is born in Aschaffenburg, Germany on a U.S. military base. His family soon after relocated to Juneau, Alaska, where Boozer starred on the Juneau-Douglas High School team.

China cruises to a fourth consecutive FIBA Asia Cup title by defeating South Korea 96-64 in Calcutta. South Korea earns the silver medal while Japan wins the bronze.

Elvin Hayes has his jersey #11 retired by the Bullets. An eight-time All-Star for Washington and the leading scorer on their 1978 title team, Hayes was traded to the Rockets in the 1981 offseason and following his jersey retirement ceremony, finished with 23 points and 10 rebounds in a Rockets win over the Bullets.

1994

A 21-year-old Shaquille O’Neal puts together the most impressive statistical game of his career in an 87-85 Magic victory over the New Jersey Nets, finishing with 24 points, a career high 28 rebounds, and a career high 15 blocks. It’s the first (of just two) triple-doubles in his career, and also sets the Magic single game franchise records for rebounds (which stood for 29 years until getting broken by Nikola Vucevic) and blocks (which still stands).

1996

Gail Goodrich has his jersey #25 retired by the Lakers. In nine seasons with Los Angeles, Goodrich was an All-Star four times and a key component of the 1972 title team.

1997

A.C. Green of the Mavericks becomes the NBA “Iron Man,” playing in his 907th consecutive game to surpass the record set by Randy Smith in 1983. Green would eventually play in 1,192 straight, never missing a game up to his 2001 retirement.

1999

During a Rockets loss to the SuperSonics, Hakeem Olajuwon becomes the first, and still only, NBA player with 2,000 career blocks and 2,000 career steals, when he records his second steal of the game.

2009

The Sacramento Monarchs fold after 13 seasons in the WNBA. They are the fourth and final of the league’s original teams to cease operations, following the Cleveland Rockers in 2003, the Charlotte Sting in 2006, and the Houston Comets in 2008. It’s a stunning turn of events, as the Monarchs were winners of the 2005 championship and had reached the WNBA Finals in 2006.

2010

Tim Duncan becomes the all-time leading scorer in Spurs history, surpassing his longtime teammate David Robinson with his 20,791st point during a win over the Jazz. True to form, Duncan claims he didn’t even realize he had broken the record until a teammate congratulated him.

2024

Geno Auriemma becomes the all-time winningest coach in college basketball history, men’s or women’s, with his 1,217th win, an 85-41 Connecticut victory over Fairleigh Dickinson. The record had previously been held by longtime Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer.

On this date: full archive

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