Dec. 4, 1997 – The NBA suspended Latrell Sprewell for physically assaulting coach, P.J. Carlesimo

Though a four-time All-Star, a significant mark on Latrell Sprewell‘s career was an incident which took place on December 1, 1997, when he attacked head coach P.J. Carlesimo during a Golden State Warriors practice. When Carlesimo yelled at Sprewell to make crisper passes (specifically asking him to “put a little mustard” on a pass), Sprewell responded that he was not in the mood for criticism and told the coach to keep his distance. When Carlesimo approached, Sprewell threatened to kill him and dragged him backwards by his throat, choking him for 7–10 seconds before his teammates and assistant coaches pulled Sprewell off his coach. Sprewell returned about 20 minutes later after showering and changing and again accosted Carlesimo. He landed a glancing blow at Carlesimo’s right cheek before being dragged away again by the assistant coaches.

Sprewell was suspended for 10 games without pay. The next day, in the wake of a public uproar, the Warriors voided the remainder of his contract, which included $23.7 million over three years, and the NBA suspended him for one year. Sprewell took the case to arbitration, and, as a result, the contract voiding was overturned and the league suspension was reduced to the remaining 68 games of the season. He sought to vacate the arbitration contract under the terms of the collective bargaining agreement. His case went through all appeals, and was remanded.

Nov. 24, 1960 – Wilt Chamberlain grabbed an NBA single-game record 55 rebounds

Wilt Chamberlain broke more than 70 NBA records. In his 14-year career in the NBA, he scored 31,419 points. (The only player with a higher tally is Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who played six seasons—514 games—longer than Chamberlain did.) He was the highest scorer in the NBA from 1960-1966, and led the league in rebounding for 11 of his 14 seasons. And during the 1966-67 season, when his coach asked him to shoot less and pass more, Chamberlain had more assists than anyone else in the league. Among his records are several that are considered unbreakable, such as averaging 22.9 rebounds for a career or 50.4 points per game in a season, scoring 100 points or 55 rebounds in a single game, scoring 65 or more points 15 times, 50 or more points 118 times. During Chamberlain’s time, defensive statistics like blocks and steals had not been recorded yet. However, according to Jack Ramsay, “Harvey said he used to tell one of his statisticians to keep track of Wilt’s blocks in big games…One night, they got up to 25”.

Chamberlain was named to the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1978, the first year he was eligible, and in 1997 he was elected to the NBA’s 50th Anniversary All-Star Team. He died in 1999.

Nov. 3, 1962 – Wilt Chamberlain scored 72 points in a loss against the Lakers

Wilt Chamberlain is the only player in NBA history to score 70 or more points in a game more than once. In all, he accomplished the feat six times, scoring 72 or more points four times in 1962.

Here are the top five scoring outputs in a loss:

1. Wilt Chamberlain, Philadelphia Warriors (Dec. 8, 1961) – 78 points, lost 151-147 in 3OT game vs the Los Angeles Lakers
2. David Thompson, Denver Nuggets (April 9, 1978) – 73 points, lost 139-137 vs the Detroit Pistons
3. Wilt Chamberlain, San Francisco Warriors (November 3, 1962) – 72 points, lost 127-115 vs the Los Angeles Lakers
4. Wilt Chamberlain, San Francisco Warriors (March 10, 1963) – 70 points, lost 163-148 vs the Syracuse Nationals
5. Wilt Chamberlain, Philadelphia Warriors (February 17, 1962) – lost 128-121 vs the St. Louis Hawks

Oct. 24, 1959 – Wilt Chamberlain made his NBA debut with 43 points, 28 boards

Wilt Chamberlain was basketball’s most awesome force the game has ever seen. From the moment Chamberlain played his first NBA game, for the Philadelphia Warriors in the 1959-60 season, it was apparent he would be one of the greatest players the game has ever known. In his professional debut against the New York Knicks, Chamberlain scored 43 points and grabbed 28 rebounds, a portent of things to come. He finished the season averaging 37.6 points and 27.0 rebounds per game, and in the process won the NBA’s Rookie of the Year, All-Star Game Most Valuable Player and NBA Most Valuable Player.

But the most outstanding figures are his scoring records; Most games with 50+ points, 118; Most consecutive games with 40+ points, 14; Most consecutive games with 30+ points: 65; Most consecutive games with 20+ points: 126; Highest rookie scoring average: 37.6 ppg; Highest field goal percentage in a season: .727. And with many of these, the player in second place is far behind. His name appears so often in the scoring record books that his name could be the default response any time a question arises concerning a scoring record in the NBA.

“A champion shows who he is by what he does when he’s tested. When a person gets up and says ‘I can still do it’, he’s a champion.” – Evander Holyfield

May 3, 2007 – Golden State Warriors defeated the Dallas Mavericks in Game 6

It was the first time a No. 8 seed team had defeated a No. 1 seed team in a 7-game playoff series. “We Believe!”

The Golden State Warriors qualified for the playoffs for the first time since 1994, the second longest such streak in league history. However, the Warriors were heavy underdogs against the Dallas Mavericks despite sweeping the regular season series between the teams, as Dallas had one of the best records in NBA regular season history. Expectations of a short series were immediately dashed by Golden State’s Game 1 victory in Dallas, behind guard Baron Davis and his rather frantic style of play. The Mavericks came back to win Game 2 to tie the series at a game apiece.

But when the series shifted to Oakland for the next two games, a new X-factor emerged for the Warriors: their home crowd at the Oracle Arena. The electric crowd, which was the highest paid attendance crowd for an NBA game in the history of that arena, gave the Warriors a huge lift as they blew out Dallas in Game 3, and edged out a close victory in Game 4. As the series shifted back to Dallas, the top-ranked Mavericks found themselves one game from seeing their record breaking season end prematurely. The Mavericks gave their all and were able to stave off elimination in Game 5, but had nothing left in Game 6 in Oakland. The Warriors used a third-quarter 18–0 run, sparked by Stephen Jackson‘s 13 straight points en route to a franchise playoff record seven three-pointers, and an unexpected collapse from MVP candidate Dirk Nowitzki (2-13 from the field with 8 points) to finish Dallas and become the first #8 seed to win a best-of-seven series in the first round, and just the third overall in NBA history, in a mild upset. The Warriors also won their first playoff series since 1991.

Both 2006 NBA Finalists (Dallas and Miami) were eliminated in the first round. This was the first time since 1956 that this had happened.

#HelloHistory

Stephen Curry Becomes The NBA Single Season 3 Point Leader.

On the final day (April 17) of the regular season, Curry broke the NBA record for three pointers made in a single regular season. Curry finished the 2012-13 NBA season with 272 made three pointers, three more than previous record holder Ray Allen.

What makes this record even more special is Curry’s contribution to the Nothing But Nets awareness campaign. For each time Curry hit a three-pointer, he pledged to donate three life-saving bed nets. Curry is the kind of Nothing But Nets Champion who inspires us all to do more.

Stephen Curry’s Three-for-Three Challenge:

The Golden State Warriors‘ Curry has supported the campaign since his days at Davidson College. Stephen is so dedicated to protecting families from malaria that he has pledged to send three life-saving bed nets for every three-point shot he makes during the ’12-’13 season. That’s hundreds of three-pointers this season, and hundreds of bed nets to keep families in Africa safe! Steph Curry is committed to the fight against malaria. You can learn more and join him by clicking here.

Mar. 23, 1952 – Bill Mosienko scored the fastest hat trick in NHL history, 3 goals in 21 seconds

He scored 3 goals in 21 seconds.

Mosienko played 14 seasons in the NHL for the Chicago Blackhawks. He is best noted for recording the fastest hat trick in NHL history. In a 1952 game against the New York Rangers, Mosienko scored three goals in 21 seconds.

In the NHL, Mosienko won the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy in 1945 as the most gentlemanly player in the league, played in five All-Star Games and was twice named to the second All-Star Team. He left the league in 1955 to help bring professional hockey to his hometown of Winnipeg. He helped create the Winnipeg Warriors of the Western Hockey League and was a three-time All-Star in his four years of play in the league. He won the league championship in 1956.

Mosienko was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1965 and into the Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame and Museum in 1980.

Mar. 2, 1962 – Wilt Chamberlain scored an NBA-record 100 points

Philadelphia Warriors defeated the New York Knicks with a final score 169-147. Chamberlain broke five NBA records in the game: points in a quarter with 31, points in a half with 59, field goals made with 36, field goals attempted with 63 and free throws made with 28. Only one of the these records has since been broken, as George Gervin and Carmelo Anthony have each scored 33 points in a single quarter.

The game was not televised, and no video footage of the game exists; there are only audio recordings of the game’s fourth quarter. The NBA was not yet a major sports league and struggled to compete against college basketball. The attendance at this game was over half of capacity, and there were no members of the New York press at the game.

The Raw Numbers:

• Career PPG: 30.1
• Career RPG: 22.9
• Career APG: 4.4
• Seven scoring titles
• 11 rebounding titles
• Eight win-share titles
• Only center in NBA history to lead the league in assists (702 in 1967-68)
• Averaged 50.4 PPG in 1961-62
• Averaged 48.5 MPG in 1961-62
• Four-time MVP
• Two-time NBA All-Defensive First Team
• Only player in NBA history to record a 100-point game
• Never fouled out in his career

Feb. 14, 1966 – Wilt Chamberlain sets NBA scoring record at 20,884 points

The scoring record was previously held by Bob Pettit at 20,880. Chamberlain would eventually finish his career with a total of 31,419 points, which currently ranks him fourth all-time.

Since retiring, Chamberlain’s point total has been surpassed by only Michael Jordan (32,292), Karl Malone (36,928) and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (38,387). Kobe Bryant (30,913, as of February 13, 2013) is the only active player close to surpassing Wilt Chamberlain on the NBA career scoring leaders list.

Chamberlain holds numerous NBA all-time records in scoring, rebounding and durability categories. He is the only player to score 100 points in a single NBA game or average more than 40 and 50 points in a season. He also won seven scoring, nine field goal percentage, and eleven rebounding titles, and once even led the league in assists. Chamberlain is the only player in NBA history to average at least 30 points and 20 rebounds per game in a season, a feat he accomplished nine times. He is also the only player to average at least 30 points and 20 rebounds per game over the entire course of his NBA career.

Although he suffered a long string of professional losses, Chamberlain had a successful career, winning two NBA championships, earning four regular-season Most Valuable Player awards, the Rookie of the Year award, one NBA Finals MVP award, and being selected to 13 All-Star Games and ten All-NBA First and Second teams. Chamberlain was subsequently enshrined in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1978, elected into the NBA’s 35th Anniversary Team of 1980, and chosen as one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History of 1996.