December 1, 1981
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar of the Los Angeles Lakers passed Oscar Robertson to become the NBA’s second all-time leading scorer, behind Wilt Chamberlain. Abdul-Jabbar finished the season with over 28,000 career points and eventually surpassed Chamberlain for the top spot.
December 1, 1984
Phoenix Suns Coach John MacLeod became the 10th coach in NBA history to compile 500 career wins as the Suns defeated Golden State 115-103.
December 1, 1990
New Jersey Coach Bill Fitch registered his 785th career victory, 111-92 over Orlando, at the time moving him into fourth place on the NBA’s all-time list behind Dick Motta, Jack Ramsay and Red Auerbach.
December 1, 1991
Isiah Thomas became Detroit’s all-time leading scorer, with 15,493 points, after scoring a game-high 22 points in the Pistons’ 94-87 win over Houston at the Palace of Auburn Hills. Thomas passed previous leader Bob Lanier on Detroit’s all-time scoring chart.
December 1, 1996
Hersey Hawkins of the Seattle SuperSonics became part of basketball history when he scored the 7,000,000th point in NBA history off a 12-foot jumper with 7:58 left in the fourth quarter of the Sonics' 96-90 loss to visiting Utah.
December 2, 1954
Frank Selvy of the Milwaukee Hawks, in a game against the Minneapolis Lakers at Fort Wayne, hit 24 of 26 free throws, both NBA rookie records for free throws attempted and made in a game.
December 2, 1978
Golden State Coach Al Attles captured his 400th career victory, only the 10th coach in NBA history at the time to achieve that feat, as the Warriors beat the Suns 116-108 at Phoenix.
December 2, 1986
The Washington Bullets beat the Boston Celtics 117-109 to end the Celtics’ homecourt winning streak at 38 games. Although the game was played at the Hartford Civic Center instead of the Boston Garden, it still counted as a home contest for the Celtics.
December 2, 1993
The Houston Rockets, paced by Hakeem Olajuwon’s 37 points and 13 rebounds, registered a 94-85 victory at New York for the team’s 15th straight win to start the season, tying the all-time NBA record set by the Washington Capitols at the start of the 1948-49 season. The Rockets’ streak ended with a 133-111 loss at Atlanta the next night.
December 2, 1996
Houston’s Clyde Drexler became the fifth player in NBA history to reach 2,000 career steals, after picking up four against Toronto.
December 2, 1997
The Washington Wizards begin a new era when they opened the doors to the downtown MCI Center in a matchup against Seattle.
December 2, 1999
William “Pop” Gates, one of the greatest players of the 1930s and 1940s barnstorming era of basketball died of heart failure. Gates, who was elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1989, earned acclaim as a player-coach of the Harlem Globetrotters in the 1950s. But those who played against him during the earlier era place him among the best of his time.
December 3, 1946
Joe Fulks of the Philadelphia Warriors set a league scoring mark with 37 points against the Providence Steamrollers at Philadelphia. Fulks’ 50 field goal attempts (he made 16) were the most by a player during a game in the NBA’s inaugural season and remained the record for the most field goal attempts by a rookie in a game for 13 years.
December 3, 1976
Seattle’s Fred Brown had 10 steals in a 121-112 victory at Philadelphia to tie an NBA record held by Jerry West and Larry Steele. The record would be broken 23 days later by San Antonio’s Larry Kenon, who picked up 11 steals at Kansas City.
December 3, 1990
The Boston Celtics honored long-time announcer Johnny Most by unveiling a banner bearing a microphone on the balcony facade near his old broadcast position. Most retired following the 1989-90 season after calling Celtics games on the radio for 37 years.
December 3, 1993
The Atlanta Hawks beat the Houston Rockets 133-111, ending Houston’s record-tying streak for the best start in NBA history at 15-0. The 15-0 start tied the all-time NBA record set by the Washington Capitols at the start of the 1948-49 season.
December 4, 1948
The Washington Capitols beat Baltimore 83-82 to raise their record to 15-0, the best start in NBA history. Their streak ended with a 94-78 loss at Indianapolis on December 7. This 15-0 streak to start the season was matched by the Houston Rockets at the outset of the 1993-94 season.
December 4, 1987
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s consecutive game streak of scoring in double figures (787) is snapped at Milwaukee.
December 4, 1996
Detroit’s Terry Mills began an NBA record-tying streak of 13 straight three-point field goals made over three games in the Pistons 100-90 win over the Hawks.
December 4, 1997
Golden State's Latrell Sprewell is suspended without pay for one year by NBA Commissioner David Stern.
December 5, 1967
Walt Hazzard of Seattle scored 15 consecutive points in a 133-121 loss to San Francisco at Oakland, tying an NBA record held by Wilt Chamberlain.
December 5, 1987
The San Antonio Spurs retired the #44 jersey worn by George Gervin.
December 5, 1991
Moses Malone of Milwaukee became only the sixth player in NBA history to score 26,000 career points, after he hit for 12 points in the Bucks’ 109-101 loss to New Jersey at the Bradley Center.
December 5, 1992
Detroit’s Bill Laimbeer grabbed 12 rebounds in the Pistons’ 112-88 win over visiting Philadelphia, helping him to reach the 10,000 career rebound mark.
December 5, 1996
Portland’s Jermaine O’Neal, who celebrated his 18th birthday on October 13, became the youngest player ever to participate in an NBA game.
December 5, 1997
Indiana's Mark Jackson moved past Bob Cousy (6,955) and into seventh place on the all-time assist chart.
December 5, 2000
Karl Malone of the Utah Jazz converted a finger roll in the lane for two points, moving past Wilt Chamberlain and into second place on the NBA’s all-time scoring list. Malone scored 31 points in Utah’s 98-84 win over Toronto, giving him 31,443 career points, 24 more than Chamberlain’s 31,419 points.
December 5, 2000
Don Nelson of the Dallas Mavericks notched his 938th career coaching win in Dallas’ 94-85 victory over New York, tying him with his Boston Celtics’ mentor Red Auerbach for fourth place on the all-time coaching victories list.
December 6, 1966
Rick Barry of the San Francisco Warriors made an NBA-record 14 free throws in one quarter as the Warriors beat the Knicks 126-116 at New York.
December 6, 1984
Milwaukee retired uniform #16 in honor of center Bob Lanier, who had retired after the 1984 NBA Playoffs.
December 6, 1986
The Seattle SuperSonics posted a 136-80 win over the Rockets at The Summit in Houston. The 56-point margin made it the most one-sided road win in NBA history. The most one-sided road win in NBA Playoff history was the Lakers’ 126-70 win at Golden State in Game 3 of the 1973 Western Conference Finals on April 21.
December 6, 1997
The Houston Rockets defeat the Dallas Mavericks 108-106 in the first regular season game to be played in Mexico City at the Palacio de los Deportes.
December 6, 2000
Antawn Jamison of the Golden State Warriors and Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers each scored 51 points in the Warriors’ 125-122 overtime victory. It was the first time in nearly 38 years and only the third time in NBA history that opposing players each scored at least 50 points in an NBA game. The feat last occurred on December 14, 1962, when Wilt Chamberlain scored 63 points for the Philadelphia Warriors and Elgin Baylor tallied 50 points for the Los Angeles Lakers. For Jamison, it was also the second straight game in which he scored 51 points, having hit that number December 3 in a loss to Seattle.
December 7, 1948
The Indianapolis Jets beat the Washington Capitols 94-78, snapping the Capitols’ NBA-record streak at 15 consecutive games won at the start of the season. The mark was tied by the 1993-94 Houston Rockets.
December 7, 1956
Larry Bird is born in West Baden, Indiana.
December 7, 1982
The Utah Jazz, in a 137-121 loss at Portland, set an NBA record for free throw percentage in a game, connecting on all 39 of their attempts from the line.
December 7, 1986
The Los Angeles Lakers beat Golden State 132-100 for Coach Pat Riley’s 300th career victory. He reached that plateau in 416 games, faster than any other coach in NBA history, beating Billy Cunningham’s previous record of 430 games.
December 7, 1990
The New Jersey Nets retired jersey #23 in honor of “Super John” Williamson, who played three years in the ABA and four years in the NBA with the Nets. Williamson owned the second-highest NBA scoring average (22.5 ppg) in team history.
December 7, 1993
The Orlando Magic established an NBA record by holding the visiting Detroit Pistons to only six points in the fourth quarter of a 91-89 victory. The Pistons broke the previous NBA low of seven fourth-quarter points, set by Houston against the Los Angeles Lakers on November 15, 1991.
December 7, 1994
The Philadelphia 76ers, behind Jeff Malone’s game-high 34 points, posted a 111-102 road win at Miami to become the third NBA franchise (joining Boston and the Los Angeles Lakers) to reach 2,000 victories.
December 7, 1995
Veteran NBA referee Jake O’Donnell announces his retirement after officiating more than 2,100 regular-season and 279 playoff and 39 NBA Finals games in 28 seasons in the league.
December 7, 1995
The NBA and the National Basketball Referees Association sign a five-year labor agreement, through the 1999-2000 season, ending a lockout of referees that began on October 1.
December 7, 1996
Detroit’s Terry Mills tied an NBA record for the most consecutive three-point field goals made, with 13, after connecting on his first attempt during the Pistons’ 95-69 win at New Jersey. Mills’ streak, which stretched over three games, tied the mark set by Brent Price during the 1995-96 season.
December 8, 1961
Larry Costello of the Syracuse Nationals scored 32 straight points without missing -- 13 field goals and six free throws -- as Syracuse lost 123-111 at Boston.
December 8, 1961
Wilt Chamberlain scored 78 points, the second highest scoring performance in NBA history, in the Philadelphia Warriors’ 151-147 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers in three overtimes.
December 8, 1989
Jack Sikma, playing for the Milwaukee Bucks, grabbed his 10,000th career rebound, becoming only the 18th player in league history at the time to accomplish that feat.
December 8, 1992
Atlanta’s Dominique Wilkins set an NBA record for most free throws made in a game without a miss, as he went 23-for-23 from the FT line in the Hawks’ 123-114 win over visiting Chicago.
December 8, 1998
The NBA announced the cancellation of the 1999 NBA All-Star Weekend, including the 49th Annual NBA All-Star Game scheduled for February 14 at the First Union Center in Philadelphia. This is the first time that the annual event had been cancelled. The cancellation was due to a labor dispute between the NBA and the National Basketball Players Association.
December 8, 1999
Houston Rockets forward Charles Barkley’s storied career came to an end in Philadelphia, when he attempted to block a shot by the Sixers’ Tyrone Hill. Barkley, who scored 23,755 points (13th in NBA history) and grabbed 12,545 rebounds (14th in NBA history), tore the left quadriceps tendon away from the kneecap in the first quarter of Houston's 83-73 loss to Philadelphia. After the game, Barkley held a news conference and paid tribute to former teammates Julius Erving, Maurice Cheeks, Andrew Toney and Bobby Jones, who Barkley said initiated him in the ways of the NBA in his early years with the 76ers. Barkley would return to play token minutes in the last game of the regular season, which would then be the final game of his career.
December 8, 2000
Hakeem Olajuwon passed the 26,000-point plateau for his career in a 111-98 loss to Sacramento, becoming only the fifth NBA player to record 26,000 career points and 13,000 career rebounds. Olajuwon joined Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Wilt Chamberlain, Moses Malone and Elvin Hayes.
December 8, 2000
Shaquille O’Neal of the Los Angeles Lakers broke a 40-year-old NBA record when he missed all 11 of his free throw attempts against Seattle. Wilt Chamberlain missed all 10 of his free throw attempts against Detroit on November 4, 1960.
December 9, 1988
Jerry Sloan was named head coach of the Utah Jazz, replacing Frank Layden, who resigned as head coach. Sloan’s coaching tenure with the Jazz is the longest current term of service among head coaches in the NBA.
December 9, 1993
Kevin Johnson of Phoenix became the 13th NBA player to record 10 steals in a game, during the Suns’ 114-95 win over visiting Washington.
December 9, 1997
Chicago's Michael Jordan becomes the NBA’s third-leading scorer in a 100-82 win over New York, scoring 29 points to give him 27,432 points over 13 seasons. Jordan moved ahead of Moses Malone, who had scored 27,409 points in 19 seasons.
December 9, 2000
Gary Payton scored 35 points in a loss to Houston, becoming the all-time leading scorer in Seattle SuperSonics history. Payton finished the game with 14,044 career points, surpassing “Downtown” Fred Brown’s 14,018 points.
December 10, 1971
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar scored a career-high 55 points in Milwaukee’s 120-104 victory over Boston.
December 10, 1985
The Boston Celtics beat Atlanta 118-101 to win the first of an NBA-record 38 straight home games over two seasons, ending November 28, 1986.
December 10, 1985
The Indiana Pacers made just 19 field goals in an 82-64 loss to the New York Knicks, setting an NBA record for the fewest field goals made by one team since the inception of the shot clock. The record stood for more than 13 years before the Chicago Bulls converted just 18 field goals in a game against Miami on April 10, 1999.
December 10, 1994
Dallas Coach Dick Motta moved into third place on the all-time coaching wins list (passing Jack Ramsay) with 865 career victories, following the Mavericks’ 99-86 win over visiting Charlotte.
December 10, 1995
James Worthy became the sixth player in Los Angeles Lakers’ history to have his jersey retired, when the team retired his No. 42 jersey at halftime of the game against Detroit at the Great Western Forum. Worthy, who played in 926 regular-season and 143 playoff games for the Lakers over 12 seasons, was also a member of NBA Championship teams in 1985, '87 and '88.
December 10, 1996
In Detroit’s 93-85 win over Milwaukee, Terry Mills of Detroit missed his first three-point field goal attempt since extending his NBA-record streak to 13 straight three-point field goal attempts without a miss against the Nets on December 7th.
December 10, 1999
Chicago Bulls guard Hersey Hawkins saw a streak of 527 consecutive games played end when he was unable to suit up for the Bulls' 71-69 win over New Jersey. Hawkins suffered a torn muscle in his left calf in a December 8 game against Cleveland. Hawkins' 527-game streak was the second-longest active consecutive games played streak behind all-time leader A.C. Green. Before the injury, Hawkins had missed only seven games in his 12-year NBA career.
December 11, 1946
The Chicago Stags defeated the Cleveland Rebels 88-70 in an experimental game featuring 15-minute quarters, instead of the usual 12-minute quarters.
December 11, 1959
Richie Guerin scored 57 points, at the time the most ever by a Knick, as New York defeated Syracuse 152-121. His team record survived 25 years until being surpassed by Bernard King, who tallied 60 points against New Jersey on December 25, 1984.
December 11, 1971
The NBA’s Silver Anniversary team was announced. It included Bob Cousy, Bob Davies, Paul Arizin, Joe Fulks, Sam Jones, George Mikan, Bill Russell, Dolph Schayes, Bill Sharman and Bob Pettit. The coach was Red Auerbach.
December 11, 1984
The Boston Celtics beat the New Jersey Nets 130-121 at Hartford as the two teams combined to shoot a record 63.2% (108-for-171) from the field.
December 11, 1992
The National Hockey League Board of Governors named Gary Bettman, the NBA’s Senior Vice President and General Counsel, the first Commissioner of the NHL.
December 11, 1993
With 12 rebounds during Philadelphia’s 99-86 road win at Milwaukee, Moses Malone became the fifth NBA player to surpass 16,000 career rebounds.
December 12, 1932
Bob Pettit is born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
December 12, 1971
Los Angeles defeated Atlanta 104-95 at the Forum for the Lakers’ 21st consecutive victory, breaking the NBA record of 20 straight wins, previously shared by the Washington Capitols (over two seasons) and Milwaukee Bucks. The Lakers went on to win 33 straight games, the longest winning streak in NBA history.
December 12, 1984
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar scored 15 points to become the first player in NBA history to surpass 32,000 career points in the Lakers’ 131-107 victory over Golden State.
December 12, 1988
With a 110-94 loss to Utah at the Salt Palace, the Miami Heat set an NBA record for the most consecutive games lost at the start of a season with 17. The Los Angeles Clippers opened the lockout-shortened 1998-99 season with 17 straight defeats, tying the Heat’s mark.
December 13, 1983
Detroit beat Denver 186-184 in a triple-overtime game that set NBA records for most points scored in a game, one team (Detroit-186) and combined (370); most field goals, one team (Detroit-74) and combined (142); and combined assists (93).
December 13, 1986
The Washington Bullets retired uniform #25 in honor of the late Gus Johnson.
December 13, 1991
Boston’s Robert Parish became the fifth player in NBA history to appear in 1,200 career games (joining Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Elvin Hayes, John Havlicek and Paul Silas) during the Celtics’ 117-97 win over Seattle at Boston Garden.
December 13, 1994
Philadelphia’s Willie Burton set a Spectrum scoring record by pouring in 53 points during the Sixers’ 105-90 win over Miami. That broke the previous scoring high at the Spectrum of 52 points, set by Michael Jordan during the 1988-89 season.
December 13, 2000
John Stockton of the Utah Jazz collected his 14,000th career assist in a 111-102 loss to Milwaukee. When Stockton notched the assist, he increased his lead over No. 2 career assist man Magic Johnson (10,141 assists) to 3,859 assists.
December 13, 2001
Larry Costello, who guided the Milwaukee Bucks to their only NBA championship in 1971, passed away after battling cancer for more than a year. He was 70 years old.
December 14, 1962
Wilt Chamberlain scored 63 points for the Philadelphia Warriors and Elgin Baylor tallied 50 points for the Los Angeles Lakers, one of only three times in NBA history that opposing players each scored at least 50 points in the same game.
December 14, 1965
Rick Barry of San Francisco poured in 57 points during the Warriors’ 141-137 setback against New York at Madison Square Garden. Barry’s 57 points were the second-highest total ever scored by a rookie in an NBA game (Wilt Chamberlain twice scored 58 for Philadelphia in 1960), and his 21 free throws (in 22 attempts) tied Frank Selvy’s NBA rookie record for the most free throws made in a game.
December 14, 1975
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar grabbed 29 defensive rebounds, an NBA record, in a 110-100 win over Detroit. Prior to the 1973-74 season, offensive and defensive rebounds were tabulated collectively.
December 14, 1985
The Utah Jazz retired Pete Maravich’s uniform #7. “Pistol” Pete averaged 24.2 ppg in 10 NBA seasons ending in 1979-80.
December 14, 1988
The Miami Heat won their first game in the NBA, defeating the Los Angeles Clippers 89-88 at the LA Sports Arena. The win by Miami broke a 17-game losing streak, which established an NBA record for consecutive losses at the start of a season that was tied by the Clippers nearly 11 years later.
December 14, 1990
Alex English of Dallas scored his 25,000th career point during the Mavericks’ 106-104 road loss to the Trail Blazers.
December 14, 1996
The Clippers beat the Kings 106-94, enabling coach Bill Fitch to join Lenny Wilkens, Red Auerbach and Dick Motta as the only coaches in NBA history to win 900 games.
December 14, 1999
The Los Angeles Clippers scored just 19 points in the first half against the Los Angeles Lakers, snapping a nearly 25-year old record for fewest points in the first half of a game held by the New Orleans Jazz. New Orleans scored 20 points in the first half against Seattle on January 4, 1975.
December 14, 2000
Rudy Tomjanovich of the Houston Rockets earned his 400th head coaching victory in a 98-95 win over Golden State. Tomjanovich became the 29th NBA coach to accumulate 400 wins.
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.
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.
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.
