This Week In NBA History December 15-21
Thought it would be interesting to stroll down memory lane. Interestingly enough, I remember most of these things happening as they happened. If you have a memory or comment on this week in history, feel free to chime in. I’m always hungry for knowledge!
December 15, 1984 Gus Williams of the Washington Bullets recorded his 1,404th steal during a 109-103 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers to become, at the time, the NBA’s all-time leader in that category.
Gus “The Wizard” Williams being a member of the 1979 World Champion Seattle SuperSonics was a magician with the ball on offense. Most people didn’t realize how good he was on defense. In the back court with HOF Dennis Johnson R.I.P. They gave a lot of opposing guards fits in every matchup they encountered. Back in 1984, he took over the all time lead in steals and ended up with 1,638. He now sits in 23rd place now.
December 15, 1994 Recognizing that three-point field goals were becoming more frequent at a shorter distance, the NBA announced that it was changing the statistical minimum, from 50 to 82, of three-point baskets needed in order for a player to qualify for the three-point field goal percentage title.
-There is an excellent article on this very subject on the history of the NBA line. One thing that stuck out to me when researching this is that in the 95-96 season Dennis Scott made the most 3 pointers in a season in NBA history at the time with the short line. Today, it is the 3rd highest total behind Ray Allen’s 269 made in 05-06 with the Seattle Sonics and Stephen Curry’s all time mark of 272 set last season.
December 15, 1995 Toronto’s Alvin Robertson picks up three steals in the Raptors’ 122-103 loss at Boston, becoming the third NBA player to move past 2,000 career steals.
December 15, 1997 Chicago plays Phoenix in front of their 500th consecutive home sellout. At the time, it was the longest active streak and third-longest in NBA history. Portland had 814 and Boston is next on the list with 662.
December 16, 1961 Wilt Chamberlain of the Philadelphia Warriors began a streak of seven consecutive games in which he scored 50 points or more, another of Chamberlain’s many NBA records.
Here is a three minute radio clip I found on YouTube for Wilt’s 100 point game
Courtesy of Carlzson299 YouTube Channel.
December 16, 1993 Patrick Ewing moved past Walt Frazier to become New York’s all-time leading scorer, with 14,618 career points, after hitting a second-quarter jumper during the Knicks’ 108-85 win over the visiting Los Angeles Lakers.
December 16, 1997 Houston’s Clyde Drexler had five steals to give him a career total of 2,115 and move him into fourth place on the all-time steals list.
courtesy of bleacherreport.com
December 17, 1976 The Philadelphia 76ers retired Billy Cunningham’s uniform #32. He scored 13,626 points in just nine seasons with the Sixers and was a member of the 1967 NBA Championship team.
December 17, 1991 Cleveland, which had eight different players score in double figures, defeated Miami 148-80 at Richfield Coliseum. The 68-point margin of victory set an NBA record, shattering the previous mark of 63 points in the Los Angeles Lakers’ 162-99 win over Golden State on March 19, 1972.
Courtesy of Bleacherreport.com
December 17, 1996 Atlanta set an NBA record by making 19 three-point field goals (in 27 attempts) during a 109-73 victory at Dallas. Mookie Blaylock led the Hawks’ barrage from downtown, hitting 7-of-10 attempts.
December 17, 1996 As part of the NBA’s 50th anniversary season, the Top Ten Coaches in NBA History were announced. The list included Red Auerbach, Chuck Daly, Bill Fitch, Red Holzman, Phil Jackson, John Kundla, Don Nelson, Jack Ramsay, Pat Riley and Lenny Wilkens.
December 18, 1984 The Washington Bullets beat the New Jersey Nets 104-95 to give Gene Shue his 700th NBA career coaching victory. Shue became only the third coach to reach that plateau at the time, joining Red Auerbach and Jack Ramsay.
December 19, 1956 Upon his return from Melbourne, Australia, where he led the U.S. Basketball squad to an Olympic gold medal, Bill Russell signed his first contract with the Boston Celtics.
Courtesy of Celticshub.com
December 19, 1968 The Detroit Pistons traded Dave DeBusschere to the New York Knicks for Walt Bellamy and Howard Komives. The acquisition of DeBusschere is often credited as providing the last piece to the Knicks’ championship teams of 1970 and 1973. The midseason trade also allowed Bellamy to play in an NBA record 88 games that season with New York and Detroit.
December 19, 1990 Boston’s Kevin McHale scored 23 points in 29 minutes of play, helping the Celtics down Philadelphia 115-105 while reaching the 15,000 point mark for his career.
December 19, 1992 New York’s 91-87 win over Miami at Madison Square Garden gave Knicks Coach Pat Riley his 600th career victory, the 12th coach in NBA history to reach that mark.
December 20, 1966 Seattle was named the 11th franchise city in the NBA. Approximately one month later the team was named the SuperSonics, the result of a local contest won by Howard E. Schmidt.
Courtesy of Wikipedia.org
December 20, 1992 Buck Williams becomes only the 20th player in NBA history to collect 10,000 rebounds in his career as Portland defeats Golden State, 130-114.
December 20, 1997 New York’s Patrick Ewing suffered a Lunate dislocation and torn ligaments in right wrist in game vs. Milwaukee Bucks and was declared out for the remainder of the season following surgery.
December 20, 1997 Chick Hearn, the Lakers’ play-by-play announcer, was not be behind the microphone for the Lakers-Rockets game as he recovered from heart surgery to replace a blocked aortic valve, bringing to end an astonishing streak, one that lasted more than 36 years and 3,338 games.
Courtesy of Majamaki.com
December 21, 1980 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar became only the fifth player in NBA history to notch 25,000 points as he scored a season-high 42 points in the Lakers’ 135-102 win over San Antonio.
Courtesy of www.latimes.com
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