This Day in Basketball History

Every day, this page'll have some stuff that happened on the same date at any point in Basketball History. Let us know if there are any you think should be on here that aren't.
January 28

  • 1891 - Right: 5'4" Barney Sedran, the shortest player ever inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, is born in New York City.
  • 1908 - Hall of Famer Pat Kennedy the first referee inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame , is born in Hoboken, New Jersey.
  • 1948 -Nat Hickey, coach of the Providence Steamrollers of the Basketball Association of Amercis (the forerunner to the NBA), activates himself as a player. He goes 0-for-3 from the field and commits one personal foul and still holds the record for oldest player in NBA history at 45 years and 363 days.
  • 1959 - Team USA loses its first game in international competition, falling to the Soviet Union 62-37. As this FIBA World Championship fell in the middle of the US season, the team consisted of U.S. Air Force volunteers.
  • 1960 - Philippines wins the first FIBA Asia Championship for Men, winning nine games and losing none. They outscore their opponents by a tournament total of 910-645. Carlos Badion is named tournament MVP.                                                                                                                           --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

January 27:

1910 The North Carolina Tar Heels play their first varsity basketball game

1973 UCLA sets the NCAA record for consecutive victories with their 61st straight 

1975 Walter J Kennedy Citizenship Award was created

1982 Geoff Huston hands out 27 assists, 4th highest total ever 

1995 The Arison family gains control of the Miami Heat (purchasing their shares from Billy Cunningham)

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January 26:

1960 Danny Heater sets the U.S. Boys High School Basketball record with 135 points in a game

1977 Vince Carter is born

1973 George Gervin makes his professional debut

1982 Cheryl Miller sets the U.S. Girls High School Basketball record with 105 points in a game 

1995 Grant Hill becomes the first rookie to lead the league in all-star voting

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January 25:

1960 Wilt Chamberlain sets (one of his first) records with a rookie-single game record 58 points 

1986 Manute Bol has the second greatest single-game blocking total in NBA history with 15. Amazingly, it was his rookie year

1988 Ricky Green scores the 5,000,000th point in league history

1989 Michael Jordan scores his 10,000th point

1998 Kobe Bryant becomes the youngest player to be voted a starter in the All-Star game

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January 24:

1956 Bob Pettit wins his first All-Star game MVP (he retires with an NBA-record 4)

1957 Mark Eaton is born (2-time Defensive Player of the Year)

1976 The Cleveland Cavaliers have win by their largest margin ever (132-89 vs the Bucks)

1998 The Nuggets snap their NBA-Record 23-game losing streak

2009 A 73 Year Old (Ken Mink) scores a 2 point basket in a college basketball game

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January 23:

1992 Otis Thorpe plays in his 500th CONSECUTIVE game

1998 Michael Jordan scores in double figures for the 800th CONSECUTIVE game

1979 Larry Hughes is born

1959 Bob Pettit and Elgin Baylor become the first co-MVP's of the All-Star game

2000 Don Nelson wins his 900th career game

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January 22:

1968 Milwaukee and Phoenix are given NBA franchises

1972 Duke changes the name of it's indoor stadium to Cameron Stadium, after Eddie Cameron

1988 Greg Oden is born

1992 Barkley grabs 14 boards and becomes 76ers all time leading rebounder, passing Wilt Chamberlain

2006 Kobe Bryant scores 81 points vs the Raptors, the 2nd highest single-game scoring output ever

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January 21:

1929 The Harlem Globetrotters play their first game ever

1954 The All-Star game goes into overtime for the first time ever. MVP Bob Cousy scores 10 in OT 

1963 Hakeem Olajuwon is born in Nigeria

1990 Don Nelson wins his 600th game, becoming the second youngest to do so

1995 John Stockton becomes the NBA's all time leader in assists with a pass to Karl Malone

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January 20:

1892 The first basketball game ever is played. 9-on-9 teams with peach baskets hung on a balcony.

1949 The Associated Press releases their very first basketball rankings. St. Louis is ranked #1

1952 George Mikan (Mikan drill) scored 61 points

1995 Karl Malone scores his 20,000th point

1999 The new collective bargaining agreement is signed, and the first lockout officially comes to an end

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January 19:

1921 A guy named Nat Holman plays for four teams in one day

1974 Notre Dame ends UCLA's 88-game winning winning streak, 71-70

1998 Legendary Lakers announcer Chick Hearns calls his 3,000th consecutive game

2000 Michael Jordan begins his association with the Wizards, as President and part-owner

2006 Pat Summit (Tennessee Head Coach) wins her 900th victory


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January 18:

1896 The first 5 on 5 college basketball game is played (UofChicago vs Iowa)

1972 Jerry West hits a game winning 20-footer and is named All-Star game MVP

1997 Andrei Kirilenko begins his professional career in Russia  at age 15

1998 The Celtics retire Robert Parish's Number 00

1999 Free agency begins after a 202 day lockout


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January 17:


Dwyane Wade of the Heat with his 2006
Championship & Finals MVP Trophies
1961 Oscar Robertson wins the All-Star game MVP as a rookie


1982 Dwyane Wade (right) is born


1992 Moses Malone joins the 1200 games played club


1992 Robert Parish scores his 20,000th point (he was almost 20,000 years of age)


1994 Patrick Ewing scores his 15,000th point, becoming the first Knick to do so