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1937

Dave Gambee is born in Portland, Oregon. His father was a star track and field athlete under legendary coach Bill Hayward at the University of Oregon.

1944

NBA All-Star John Block is born in Los Angeles, California.

1947

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is born (as Ferdinand Lewis Alcindor, Jr.) in Harlem, New York. By the age of 13, he was 6’8″ and could already dunk a basketball.

The first ever NBA Finals (then called the BAA Finals) game is played, with the Philadelphia Warriors defeating the Chicago Stags 84-71 at the Philadelphia Arena. Joe Fulks has a dominant performance for the Warriors with 37 points. The Warriors ultimately won the best-of-seven series in five games.

1969

An NBA All-Defensive team is named for the first time, as voted on by coaches and the media. The 1st-Team is highlighted by Bill Russell, Nate Thurmond, and Walt Frazier, who is the leading vote getter.

1970

Walt Williams is born in Washington, D.C. After retiring from the NBA, he settled back in the area and became a head coach at Sherwood High School in nearby Sandy Spring, Maryland.

1982

Boris Diaw is born in Cormeilles-en-Parisis, France. His mother Elisabeth Riffiod is a French basketball legend, and was inducted into the nation’s Basketball Hall of Fame in 2006.

1983

In a 132-120 win over the Mavericks, the Spurs set the single game NBA record for team field goal percentage, shooting 53-of-75 from the field, good for 70.7%.

1985

Luol Deng is born in Wau, Sudan. To escape the Sudanese Civil War, his family relocated to Egypt, where Luol and his older brother Ajou were mentored in basketball by fellow Sudanese Manute Bol.

The NBA Board of Governors approves the Kings re-locating from Kansas City to Sacramento.

1990

Reggie Jackson is born in Pordenone, Italy. His father was stationed at the time at nearby Aviano Air Base and the family re-located back to America when Reggie was five.

1992

In arguably the most exciting EuroLeague Final in the tournament’s history, Sasa Dordevic hits a buzzer beater to lead Yugoslavian club Partizan to a 71-70 victory over Spanish club Joventut Badalona. Predrag Danilovic leads Partisan with 25 points while American former NBA player Harold Pressley leads Joventut with 20 points.

1996

With an 86-80 victory over the Bucks, the ’95-’96 Chicago Bulls become the first team in NBA history to reach 70 wins in a season. They would eventually win twice more to finish the season with a 72-10 record.

1997

At 20 years and 247 days old, Antoine Walker sets the Celtics franchise record for youngest player to record a triple-double, with 23 points, 10 rebounds, and 10 assists in a 108-102 loss to the Hornets. Walker breaks the record previously held by Ed Macauley since 1951, and is still standing as of 2025.

1999

Wendell Carter, Jr. is born in Atlanta, Georgia. Both his father and mother played college basketball, at Delta State and University of Mississippi, respectively.

2007

The Rockets honor longtime assistant coach and general manager Carroll Dawson by retiring a jersey emblazoned with his initials “CD.”

2014

For the first time in NBA history, the Celtics, Lakers, and Knicks all fail to reach the postseason. The Celtics finish the ’13-’14 season with a 25-57 record, the Knicks finish 37-45, and the Lakers finish 27-55. Boston would return to the postseason in ’14-’15, but the Lakers didn’t make it back until ’19-’20 and the Knicks not until ’20-’21.

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