2000
Bob Knight is fired as head coach at Indiana after 29 years and three national titles, following numerous violent confrontations with players and students. Several hundred students rally on campus that night in protest and burn an effigy of university president Myles Brand, forcing Knight to make an appearance and plea for de-escalation.
1948
Bob Lanier is born in Buffalo, New York. He didn’t play varsity basketball until his junior year at Bennett High School, but by the end of his senior year, he was considered the top prep recruit in the country.
1960
Featuring arguably the greatest roster of the amateur era of the Olympics (headlined by Jerry West, Oscar Robertson, and Jerry Lucas), the United States men’s team defeats Brazil 90-63 in the final game of competition to clinch the gold medal in Rome. In a round robin format for the medal round, Brazil earns the bronze while the Soviet Union defeats the host Italians 78-70 to clinch the silver medal.
1961
Sedale Threatt is born in Atlanta, Georgia. Despite being named All-State in Georgia in his senior year, he was not recruited by local colleges and wound up at West Virginia Tech.
1969
NBA veteran Matt Geiger is born in Salem, Massachusetts.
1971
The NBA holds its first ever supplemental draft for college underclassmen who were eligible under the “hardship clause” established in response to a lawsuit from Spencer Haywood. Six players are deemed eligible and five are drafted, including Phil Chenier (California), who spent eight seasons with the Bullets, making three All-Star teams and winning a championship in 1978.
1974
Ben Wallace is born in White Hall, Alabama. He was named All-State in Alabama in baseball and football in addition to basketball at Central High School.
1976
Tiny Archibald is traded from the Kansas City Kings to the New York Nets in exchange for Jim Eakins, Brian Taylor, and two first round picks.
1980
Roger Mason is born in Washington, D.C. He was named “Mr. Basketball” for Washington, D.C. in 1999 while starring for Our Lady of Good Counsel High School.
1981
Jay Williams is born in Plainfield, New Jersey. In addition to being named New Jersey Player of the Year in basketball, he was also all-state in volleyball and played varsity soccer at St. Joseph High School.
1986
Angel McCoughtry is born in Baltimore, Maryland. Her father Roi played basketball at Coppin State University.
2014
Host nation Spain is stunned in the quarterfinals of the FIBA World Cup, losing to France 65-52 in Madrid. Boris Diaw leads the way with 15 points for the French team, which eventually wins the bronze medal.
2019
In the first two FIBA World Cup Quarterfinals in China, Argentina defeats Serbia 97-87 despite 16 points and 10 rebounds from Nikola Jokic, while Ricky Rubio leads Spain to a 90-78 victory over Poland.
2023
Tournament MVP Dennis Schroder leads the way with 28 points as Germany earns its first ever FIBA World Cup title with an 83-77 win over Serbia in the gold medal game in Pasay, Philippines. In the bronze medal game, Dillon Brooks goes off for 37 points as Canada stuns the United States in overtime, 127-118, to earn its first ever FIBA World Cup medal. It also marks the first time since 1963 and 1967 that the U.S. fails to medal in back-to-back FIBA World Cup competitions, having finished seventh in 2019.