Key dates in NBA history:
Jan | Feb | Mar | April | May | June | July | Aug | Sept | Oct | Nov | Dec
February 1, 1967
The American Basketball Association was born. The league, which fielded 11 teams in its first season, lasted until the 1975-76 season, when it was forced to disband after facing financial difficulties. Four former ABA clubs joined the NBA in the summer of 1976–the Denver Nuggets, Indiana Pacers, New York (now New Jersey) Nets and San Antonio Spurs.
February 1, 1984
Bernard King scored 50 points for the Knicks at Dallas, equaling the 50 he tallied the night before in San Antonio. He was the first player to score 50 points on consecutive nights since Wilt Chamberlain did it 20 years earlier.
February 1, 1984
David J. Stern officially took over as the NBA’s fourth Commissioner, replacing the retired Larry O’Brien, who had served as Commissioner since 1975. Stern had previously served as the NBA’s first General Counsel and later as Executive VP of Legal & Business Affairs.
February 1, 1995
With a crisp bounce pass to teammate Karl Malone, who hit a jumper from the corner, Utah guard John Stockton became the NBA’s all-time leader in assists with 9,922, surpassing the mark previously established by Magic Johnson. Utah topped visiting Denver 129-88 and Stockton finished with a game-high 16 assists.
February 1, 1996
Chicago defeated host Sacramento 105-85, giving the Bulls a 40-3 record, the most wins ever in a season with just three losses. That broke the 197 1-72 LA Lakers’ record, who started the season with a 39-3 mark but then lost their 43rd game to give them a 39-4 record.
February 1, 1998
Karl Malone scored 20 points to pass Oscar Robertson (26,710 points) for sixth place on the NBA’s all-time scoring list.
February 1, 2001
Karl Malone of the Utah Jazz grabbed the 13,000th rebound of his career in an 87-76 win over Charlotte, helping him become the sixth player in NBA history to record 26,000 points and 13,000 rebounds in his career. Malone joined Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Wilt Chamberlain, Moses Malone, Elvin Hayes and Hakeem Olajuwon.
February 1, 2012
Serge Ibaka of the Oklahoma City thunder blocks 10 shots in a 95-86 win over the Dallas Mavericks.
February 2, 1968
Wilt Chamberlain of the Philadelphia 76ers dished out a club-record 21 assists in a 131-121 win over Detroit. Maurice Cheeks tied this mark October 30, 1982 vs. New Jersey.
February 2, 1992
Milwaukee’s Alvin Robertson collected four steals in the Bucks’ 122-106 win over Seattle at the Bradley Center, giving him a career total of 1,700 steals, at the time moving him into second place on the NBA’s all-time list, behind Maurice Cheeks.
February 2, 1993
Dominique Wilkins scored 34 points to help Atlanta defeat Seattle 118-109, becoming the Hawks’ all-time leading scorer with 20,885 points, surpassing Hall of Famer Bob Pettit, who previously held the franchise scoring record.
February 2, 1994
Atlanta’s Lenny Wilkens became only the second coach (along with Red Auerbach) in NBA history to win 900 career games, after leading the Hawks to a 118-99 win over visiting Orlando.
February 2, 1995
The Houston Rockets ended Utah’s 15-game road winning streak with a 121-101 victory at The Summit. The Jazz’ streak, which began at Sacramento on November 27, came within one game of tying the Los Angeles Lakers’ NBA record 16-game road winning streak, set during the 1971-72 season.
February 2, 1996
Chicago’s 99-84 road win over the LA Lakers–with Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson meeting on the court for the first time since Game 5 of the 1991 NBA Finals–sets, at the time, a record as the highest-rated NBA game ever on cable TV. The telecast on TNT earns a 7.1 rating and a 13.1 share, being viewed in an average of 4.75 million homes. The rating mark stood until the May 21, 1996 Chicago-Orlando playoff game.
February 2, 2021
Toronto’s Fred VanVleet scores 54 points in a 123-108 win against Orlando and sets a trio of records in the process. His scoring total is the most by an undrafted player in NBA history (besting Moses Malone’s mark of 53 points vs. the Clippers in 1982) and the most in Raptors history (besting DeMar DeRozan’s 52-point game against the Bucks in 2018). VanVleet also hit eight 3-pointers in the first half, which set a Raptors franchise record for most 3-pointers made in any half. The mark had previously been held by Danny Green (vs. Memphis in 2019) and Terrance Ross (vs. the Clippers in 2014).
February 3, 1980
Boston rookie Larry Bird scored the first three-pointer in All-Star history, hitting from the corner in the East’s 144-136 overtime victory at the Capital Center. Magic Johnson, playing for the West, became the youngest All-Star ever at 20 years, five months.
February 3, 1996
Visiting teams were 7-0, the first time in NBA history that road clubs went undefeated in more than five games.
February 3, 1998
Bill Fitch tied Red Auerbach for second place with 938 all-time coaching victories as the Los Angeles Clippers defeated the Utah Jazz, 111-102.
February 3, 2000
The Houston Rockets honor Clyde Drexler by retiring his No. 22 in a ceremony held before the Rockets’ game against Philadelphia. Drexler becomes the fourth Rocket to have his jersey raised to the rafters of the Compaq Center, joining Calvin Murphy’s No. 23, Moses Malone’s No. 24 and Rudy Tomjanovich’s No. 45.
February 3, 2010
Phil Jackson records his 534th win as the Los Angeles Lakers head coach, passing Pat Riley for the most wins in franchise history.
February 3, 2011
LeBron James of the Miami Heat scored 51 points in a 104-100 win over the Orlando Magic.
February 3, 2016
Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors scores 51 points in a 134-121 win over the Washington Wizards.
February 4, 1987
The Sacramento Kings managed only four points in the first quarter of a 128-92 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers, the fewest points in the first quarter by a team since the inception of the shot clock in 1954.
February 4, 1993
In a special two-hour ceremony celebrating his storied playing career, Larry Bird’s #33 Celtics jersey was retired at sold-out Boston Garden.
February 4, 1996
Denver, behind 32 points from Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf, knocked off visiting Chicago 105-99, snapping the Bulls’ franchise-record 18-game winning streak, tying for the third-longest winning streak in NBA history.
February 4, 2015
Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors scores 51 points in a 128-114 win over the Dallas Mavericks.
February 4, 2015
All five Atlanta Hawks’ starters — DeMarre Carroll, Al Horford, Kyle Korver, Paul Millsap and Jeff Teague — are co-named KIA Players of the Month for January.
February 4, 2021
Lakers forward LeBron James scores on a driving layup in the first quarter against the Nuggets to move past Wilt Chamberlain for third on the NBA’s all-time field goals made list. The shot gave James 12,682 field goals as the Lakers won 114-93. James also recorded his 96th career triple-double in the victory.
February 5, 1960
Bill Russell ignored a charley horse to grab a personal best (and second best in NBA history) 51 rebounds in a 124-100 win over Syracuse. Fourteen years later, Russell was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
February 5, 1978
In what proved to be John Havlicek’s last All-Star Game, Philadelphia’s Doug Collins relinquished his starting spot so Hondo could be in the starting lineup. Havlicek scored 10 points in a 133-125 East win.
February 5, 1993
Boston’s Robert Parish scored 18 points and grabbed 14 rebounds in a 105-93 win over Philadelphia, his 1,304th NBA game. That moved Parish into second place on the all-time games played list, trailing only Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s 1,560 games.
February 5, 2016
Hassan Whiteside of the Miami Heat blocks 10 shots in a 98-95 win over the Charlotte Hornets.
February 6, 1970
Buffalo was granted an NBA franchise to be called the Braves. They later moved to San Diego, then Los Angeles and changed their name to the Clippers. Cleveland and Portland were also granted NBA franchises.
February 6, 1988
Larry Bird, who defeated Dale Ellis by two points, left the floor with his finger extended in the #1 sign as his last shot swished in the AT&T Shootout at Chicago Stadium.
February 6, 1988
The Bulls’ Michael Jordan won the Nestle Crunch Slam Dunk with a perfect score of 50 on his final dunk, in front of an appreciative hometown crowd at Chicago Stadium during NBA All-Star Saturday.
February 6, 2008
In a blockbuster deal, the Phoenix Suns acquire Shaquille O’Neal from the Miami Heat in exchange for four-time NBA All-Star Shawn Marion and Marcus Banks.
February 7, 1969
Rick Barry of the Oakland Oaks set an ABA and professional basketball record by going 23-for-23 from the free throw line as Oakland defeated the Kentucky Colonels 124-122 in overtime. Dominique Wilkins of Atlanta later matched Barry’s feat and set the NBA mark on December 8, 1992.
February 7, 1978
The Nets were snowbound by a blizzard in New Jersey, forcing their game in San Antonio to be postponed. This marked the first time a basketball game in south Texas was snowed out. The game was rescheduled for March 7. The Nets lost to the Spurs, 129-98.
February 7, 1987
In Seattle, Michael Jordan started at the opposite foul line to get a running start and took off from the near foul line to dunk without touching the floor in the Nestle Crunch Slam Dunk.
February 7, 2011
Carmelo Anthony of the Denver Nuggets scores 50 points in a 109-103 loss to the Houston Rockets.
February 7, 2023
LeBron James sinks a 21-foot turnaround with 10.9 seconds left in the third quarter at Crypto.com Arena, moving him to 38,388 career points. With that basket, he surpassed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for the NBA’s all-time scoring mark, a title Abdul-Jabbar had held for almost four decades.
February 8, 1986
5-foot-7 Spud Webb of the Atlanta Hawks scored two perfect scores of 50 to beat teammate Dominique Wilkins in Spud’s hometown of Dallas during the Nestle Crunch Slam Dunk. The AT&T Shootout debuted with Larry Bird capturing the crown.
February 8, 1987
Tom Chambers of the Seattle SuperSonics, a last-minute replacement for the injured Ralph Sampson, scored a game-high 34 points to lead the West to a 154-149 overtime win over the East in the 37th NBA All-Star Game before 34,275 at the Kingdome. Chambers was named the All-Star MVP for his efforts.
February 8, 1992
Cedric Ceballos used his “Hocus-Pocus” (blindfolded) dunk to win the Nestle Crunch Slam-Dunk in Orlando.
February 8, 1992
Craig Hodges of the Chicago Bulls captured his third straight AT&T Shootout at All-Star Saturday in Orlando, beating Sacramento’s Jim Les in the final round. Hodges matched Larry Bird’s string of three straight titles in the event from 1986-88.
February 8, 1996
After hitting for 30 points in a 107-102 win over visiting New Jersey, Phoenix’s Charles Barkley moves past 20,000 career points.
February 8, 1998
Michael Jordan scored 23 points, grabbed six rebounds and also dished a team-high eight assists on way to being named the 1998 NBA All-Star Game MVP. Jordan became the oldest All-Star Game MVP, winning the award nine days before his 35th birthday. One night earlier, Utah’s Jeff Hornacek survived an overtime en route to winning the 1998 AT&T Shootout while Cleveland’s Zydrunas Ilgauskas, who scored a game high 18 points, is named the Schick Rookie Game MVP. Houston Rocket Clyde Drexler and Houston Comet Cynthia Cooper captured the title in the debut of the Nestlé Crunch All-Star 2ball competition with a 73-61 win over Utah.
February 8, 2018
Dwyane Wade is traded from the Cleveland Cavaliers to the Miami Heat for a future second-round pick.
February 9, 1980
Houston’s Rick Barry connected on 8-of-12 three-pointers in a Rockets victory over Utah, setting a record for three-pointers that would last 10 years, until Seattle’s Dale Ellis sank nine on April 20, 1990.
February 9, 1986
Isiah Thomas of the Detroit Pistons scored 30 points and handed out 10 assists to lead the East to a 139-132 win and capture the All-Star MVP Award in the 36th All-Star Game in Dallas.
February 9, 1991
Craig Hodges of the Chicago Bulls set an All-Star Saturday record in Charlotte by hitting 19 straight shots in the AT&T Shootout. That streak, which helped Hodges capture his second straight shootout title, broke Larry Bird’s consecutive shot streak of 11 set in 1986.
February 9, 1991
Dee Brown used his “Peek-A-Boo” dunk with his head hidden by his forearm to win the Nestle Crunch Slam-Dunk in Charlotte.
February 9, 1992
Magic Johnson, playing for the first time since announcing his retirement on Nov. 7, 1991 scored a game-high 25 points and dished off for a game-high nine assists to lead the West to a 153-113 win over the East in the 42nd annual NBA All-Star Game at the Orlando Arena. For his memorable effort, Johnson was honored with the second All-Star Game MVP award of his career.
February 9, 2000
Bobby Phills, who died in an auto accident on January12, 2000, became the first Charlotte Hornets player to have his number retired, as the team had a ceremony prior to their game against the Cleveland Cavaliers. Phills’ No. 13 is raised to the Charlotte Coliseum rafters before the Hornets faced the Cavaliers, whose uniform Phills wore for six seasons before signing with Charlotte as a free agent in 1997.
February 9, 2004
Rasheed Wallace is traded from the Portland Trail Blazers to the Atlanta Hawks in the precursor to a more famous move. Ten days later, Wallace is dealt again, this time to the Detroit Pistons as part of a three-team deal involving the Hawks, Pistons and Boston Celtics. The trade would help spur Detroit on to The Finals and an upset of the Los Angeles Lakers for the NBA title.
February 9, 2012
Serge Ibaka of the Oklahoma City Thunder blocks 10 shots in a 106-101 loss to the Sacramento Kings.
February 9, 2023
In a blockbuster trade, the Brooklyn Nets deal star forward Kevin Durant to the Phoenix Suns as a part of a four-team trade that also involved the Indiana Pacers and Milwaukee Bucks. In the swap, the Suns received Durant and TJ Warren, while the Nets got back Mikal Bridges, Cam Johnson and Juan Pablo Vaulet as well as six future Draft picks and a pick swap.
February 10, 1949
Joe Fulks of Philadelphia scored 63 points in a 108-87 win over Indianapolis to set an NBA scoring record which would last for nearly a decade.
February 10, 1952
The Baltimore Bullets played a full 48-minute game without making a single substitution, beating the Fort Wayne Pistons 82-77.
February 10, 1991
The East team scored 45 second-quarter points–the most ever scored by the East in one quarter of All-Star play–en route to a 116-114 win over the West in the 41st annual All-Star Game in Charlotte. Charles Barkley of the East, the game’s MVP, had 22 rebounds, the most since Wilt Chamberlain grabbed 22 in 1967.
February 10, 1995
FIBA and the NBA announced that the winner of the NBA Finals would represent the National Basketball Association in the McDonald’s Championship to be played the following October. The tournament featured many of the best club teams in the world. The McDonald’s Championship, formerly known as the McDonald’s Open, was established as a joint effort by FIBA and the NBA in 1987.
February 10, 1998
Karl Malone passed Adrian Dantley for fifth place on the all-time free throws made list with 6,834.
February 10, 1998
Atlanta’s Lenny Wilken’s earned his 1,100th career victory with a 108-100 defeat of Milwaukee.
February 10, 1998
Clyde Drexler notched an assist that helped him join John Havlicek, Oscar Robertson and Jerry West as the only NBA players with 6,000 career assists and 20,000 career points in a 97-83 win over the Seattle SuperSonics.
February 10, 1999
Golden State’s John Starks hit the 1,000th three-pointer of his career in an 89-82 loss to Seattle. Starks became the 15th player in NBA history to make 1,000 three-point field goals.
February 10, 2002
The Lakers’ Kobe Bryant recorded 31 points on 12-for-25 shooting in 30 minutes and was the unanimous choice as Most Valuable Player, sparking the Western Conference to a 135-120 triumph in the 2002 NBA All-Star Game in Philadelphia.
February 10, 2017
Golden State’s Draymond Green becomes the first player in NBA history to record a triple-double with fewer than 10 points scored. Green had 12 rebounds, 10 assists, 10 steals and four points in a 122-107 win over Memphis. Green also had five blocks, which made him the first player to record 10 steals and five blocks in a game since steals and blocks were first tracked in 1973-74.
February 10, 2018
The Boston Celtics officially retired Paul Pierce’s No. 34 jersey after the Cavaliers-Celtics game at TD Garden. Pierce became the 21st Celtics player to have his jersey retired, joining legends such as Larry Bird, Robert Parish, Kevin McHale, Bill Russell, John Havlicek and others.
February 11, 1970
The Atlanta Hawks scored 97 points, the most ever scored in the second half of an NBA game, en route to a 155-131 win at San Diego. The record for any half was set by Phoenix, which scored 107 points in the first half against Denver on November 10, 1990.
February 11, 1978
George Gervin of San Antonio scored 23 fourth-quarter points, one more than the entire Golden State team, as the Spurs won in overtime, 131-122.
February 11, 1982
Houston Rockets center Moses Malone grabbed an NBA-record 21 offensive rebounds in a 117-100 victory over Seattle.
February 11, 1989
Calvin Murphy scored an event-record 26 points, including a three-pointer at the buzzer, to lead the West over the East 54-53 in the Schick Legends Classic at All-Star Saturday in Houston.
February 11, 1990
The TeamUp Youth Celebration started in Miami during All-Star Weekend.
February 11, 1995
The Miami Heat became the first NBA team to have two of its players sweep the All-Star Saturday competition, as Harold Miner won the Nestle Crunch Slam Dunk and Glen Rice captured the AT&T Shootout.
February 11, 1996
The East team defeats the West 129-118 in the 46th annual NBA All-Star Game played before 36,037 fans at the Alamodome in San Antonio. Shaquille O’Neal scores a game-high 25 points and grabs 10 rebounds and Michael Jordan, the All-Star MVP, has 20 points in only 22 minutes to lead the East.
February 11, 2001
Allen Iverson of the East All-Stars scored 15 of his game-high 25 points in the fourth quarter to lead his team all the way back from a 19-point deficit after three quarters and score a dramatic 111-110 come-from-behind victory over the West in the 50th NBA All-Star Game at the MCI Center in Washington, D.C. Stephon Marbury of the New Jersey Nets hit a three-pointer with 28 seconds remaining to give the East the victory. Iverson was named the game’s Most Valuable Player.
February 11, 2011
After 30 years with the Utah Jazz, 23 years as the team’s head coach, Jerry Sloan retires midseason with 1,127 career wins with the team. Sloan reasons he “ran out of gas” but disputes with ownership over the course of the franchise presumably played a role in Sloan’s sudden departure.
February 12, 1934
Bill Russell is born in Monroe, Louisiana.
February 12, 1987
Bill Fitch became the fifth coach in NBA history to reach 700 career wins when the Houston Rockets beat the New Jersey Nets 121-99.
February 12, 1989
A crowd of 44,735, the largest in NBA All-Star Game history at the time, turned out at the Houston Astrodome to watch the West beat the East 143-134 in the 39th renewal, as Utah’s Karl Malone won MVP honors after scoring a team-high 28 points.
February 12, 1994
Cleveland’s Mark Price captured his second straight AT&T Shootout title, Minnesota rookie Isaiah Rider won the Nestle Crunch Slam Dunk, and the Phenoms, led by Golden State’s Chris Webber (14 points, 10 rebounds), defeated the Sensations 75-68 in the inaugural Schick Rookie Game at All-Star Saturday, held at the Target Center in Minneapolis.
February 12, 1995
In the 45th annual NBA All-Star Game at America West Arena in Phoenix, Sacramento’s Mitch Richmond scored a game-high 22 points and won MVP honors in leading the West to a 139-112 triumph over the East.
February 12, 1999
Mark Price announced his retirement from the NBA at a news conference at Alexander Memorial Coliseum, where he starred for Georgia Tech from 1982 to 1986.
February 12, 1999
Utah’s Karl Malone became the 10th player in NBA history to log 40,000 career minutes in a game against Golden State.
February 12, 2000
NBA All-Star Saturday in Oakland had Chicago’s Elton Brand winning the Schick Rookie Challenge MVP after finishing with 14 points and 21 rebounds as the 2000 Rookies defeated the 1999 Rookies 92-81 in overtime. The Sony All-Star 2ball competition was won by Utah Jazz guard Jeff Hornacek and Utah Starzz Natalie Williams, as they edged out Phoenix’s Jason Kidd and Jennifer Gillom, 68-61. Hornacek carried his hot shooting into the AT&T Shootout, and became the fourth player in the history of the event to repeat as champion, edging out Dallas’ Dirk Nowitzki and Milwaukee’s Ray Allen in the final round with a score of 13. Vince Carter took center stage in the evening’s grand finale and turned in an Oscar-worthy performance, capturing the NBA.com Slam Dunk title. Carter registered three perfect scores of 50 points and distanced himself from a talented collection of high risers, including second-place finisher Steve Francis of Houston and Raptors teammate and cousin Tracy McGrady (third).
February 13, 1977
Julius Erving, playing in his first NBA All-Star Game, was voted MVP following a 30-point, 12-rebound performance, despite his East team losing 125-124.
February 13, 1994
Chicago’s Scottie Pippen hit five three-pointers and scored a game-high 29 points, helping lift the East to a 127-118 win over the West at the 44th annual NBA All-Star Game in Minnesota. Pippen captured All-Star Game MVP honors for his performance.
February 13, 2000
Shaquille O’Neal, Tim Duncan and Kevin Garnett, the starting frontcourt of 7-footers for the West All-Stars, combined for 70 points and 33 rebounds as the West held off several strong challenges from the East to score a 137-126 victory before an energized crowd at The Arena in Oakland. O’Neal and Duncan shared MVP honors.
February 14, 1966
Wilt Chamberlain scored 41 points in a 149-123 Philadelphia win over Detroit to pass Bob Pettit (20,880 points), becoming the NBA’s all-time scoring leader, a distinction he held for more than 18 years until passed by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in 1984.
February 14, 1967
San Francisco’s Rick Barry scored 50 points against visiting Boston at Oakland, one of his seven 40-plus point games during February, en route to his winning the NBA scoring title that season with a 35.6 ppg average.
February 14, 1975
In one of the longest and highest-scoring games in ABA history, the San Diego Conquistadors defeated the New York Nets 176-166 in four overtimes. The game featured a career-high 63 points from the Nets’ Julius Erving, who set an ABA record by shooting 25-for-46 from the field.
February 14, 1982
San Antonio’s George Gervin’s failure to score 20 points in a 114-94 win over Seattle broke his club-record streak of 53 straight games with 20 or more points.
February 14, 1986
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar surpassed Elvin Hayes’ career total of 50,000 minutes during the Los Angeles Lakers’ 141-117 win over Atlanta, becoming the NBA’s all-time leader in that category.
February 14, 1987
A crowd of 52,745, at the time the largest in NBA history, turned out at the Pontiac Silverdome to watch the Pistons beat Philadelphia 125-107. The mark lasted less than a year, with the Pistons breaking it at the Silverdome once again, drawing 61,983 for a game against Boston on January 29, 1988.
February 14, 1995
The Houston Rockets acquired Clyde Drexler (and forward Tracy Murray) from the Portland Trail Blazers for veteran forward Otis Thorpe, a 1995 first round draft choice and the draft rights to forward Marcelo Nicola. With Drexler in place, the Rockets went on to win their second consecutive NBA championship.
February 14, 2009
Commissioner David Stern announced that the NBA Finals MVP trophy would be named the Bill Russell NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Award in honor of Russell.
February 14, 2010
The NBA All-Star Game sets a record for attendance at a basketball game, as 108,713 fans take the stands at Cowboys Stadium in Dallas, Texas for a 141-139 victory for the East over the West.
February 14, 2016
The West defeated the East 196-173 in the 65th NBA All-Star Game before 18,298 fans in Toronto.
February 14, 2019
Russell Westbrook finishes with 44 points, 14 rebounds and 11 assists in the Oklahoma City Thunder’s 131-122 loss to the New Orleans Pelicans. That marked his 11th straight triple-double, the longest streak in NBA history. The run would come to an end in the Thunder’s next game (on Feb. 22) as Westbrook finished with 43 points, 15 rebounds and eight assists.
February 15, 1989
Golden State picked up 25 steals against San Antonio in a 133-96 win at the Oakland Coliseum. That tied the NBA record originally set by the Warriors on March 25, 1975, in a 139-122 home win over the Los Angeles Lakers. The Seattle SuperSonics broke the tie when they tallied 27 steals against Toronto on January 15, 1997.
February 15, 2001
Mitch Richmond of the Washington Wizards became the 26th player in NBA history to score 20,000 points when he tallied 18 points in a 102-78 loss to San Antonio. Richmond achieved the milestone with a 16-foot jump shot in the second quarter.
February 15, 2009
The West defeated the East 146-119 in the 58th NBA All-Star Game before 16,382 fans in Phoenix.
February 15, 2015
The West defeated the East 163-158 in the 64th NBA All-Star Game before 17,198 fans in New York.
February 16, 1967
Rick Barry of the San Francisco Warriors scored 52 points against Chicago at Fresno for his second consecutive 50-point game.
February 16, 1972
Wilt Chamberlain of the Los Angeles Lakers became the first player in NBA history to reach the 30,000 point mark for his career during a 110-109 loss to the Phoenix Suns. Chamberlain also passed Bill Russell during the 1971-72 season to become the NBA’s all-time leading rebounder.
February 16, 1992
The Los Angeles Lakers officially retired Magic Johnson’s #32 jersey at halftime of the Celtics-Lakers game at the Great Western Forum. Johnson became the fifth Lakers player to have his jersey retired, joining Jerry West, Elgin Baylor, Wilt Chamberlain and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
February 16, 1994
By handing out 12 assists in Utah’s 103-99 road win over the Los Angeles Clippers, John Stockton became the third guard in NBA history (joining Magic Johnson and Oscar Robertson) to reach the 9,000 career assist plateau.
February 16, 1996
Vancouver dropped a 110-100 decision to Atlanta in the first of an NBA record 23 consecutive games lost by the Grizzlies.
February 16, 1999
Gary Gerould, the voice of the Sacramento Kings, announced his 1,000th broadcast during the Kings 101-98 win over the Boston Celtics.
February 16, 2001
Philadelphia 76ers’ head coach Larry Brown notched his 1,000th professional basketball coaching victory when the 76ers defeated the Los Angeles Clippers 108-93. Brown had 771 coaching wins in the NBA and 229 in the American Basketball Association.
February 16, 2014
The East defeated the West 163-155 in the 63rd NBA All-Star Game before 12, 727 fans in New Orleans.
February 16, 2023
Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo feeds Brook Lopez for a 3-pointer in the second quarter against the Chicago Bulls, giving him 3,273 assists with the Bucks to secure the franchise’s all-time lead in that category.
February 17, 1963
Michael Jordan is born in Brooklyn, New York.
February 17, 1967
Philadelphia’s Wilt Chamberlain hit the first of what would become an NBA record 35 consecutive field goals without a miss.
February 17, 1978
The NBA’s 3,000,000th point occurred in Indiana-Washington, Buffalo-Kansas City, Detroit-New York, New Jersey-Cleveland, or Philadelphia-San Antonio game.
February 17, 1979
Jerry Sloan became the first Chicago Bulls player to have his uniform (#4) retired.
February 17, 1994
San Antonio’s David Robinson recorded the fourth quadruple-double in NBA history with 34 points, 10 rebounds, 10 assists and 10 blocks in the Spurs’ 115-96 win over visiting Detroit. The three other quadruple-doubles in NBA history were compiled by Hakeem Olajuwon (3/29/90), Alvin Robertson (2/18/86) and Nate Thurmond (10/18/74).
February 17, 1996
In a pre-game ceremony at the Palace of Auburn Hills, the Detroit Pistons retired the No. 11 jersey of Isiah Thomas, who appeared in 979 regular-season and 111 playoff games with the team in 13 seasons. Thomas, a 12-time all-star, helped lead the Pistons to back-to-back NBA Championships in 1989 and 1990, being named the NBA Finals MVP in ’90 when Detroit defeated Portland in five games.
February 17, 1999
Minnesota’s Stephon Marbury becomes the fifth player in NBA history to register at least 40 points and 10 assists with no turnovers in a game when he had 40 points, 12 assists and zero turnovers in the Timberwolves’ 116-102 defeat of Houston at the Target Center.
February 17, 2008
The East defeated the West 134-128 in the 57th NBA All-Star Game before 16, 271 fans in New Orleans.
February 17, 2013
The West defeated the East 143-138 in the 62nd NBA All-Star Game before 16,101 fans in Houston.
February 18, 1961
Bob Pettit of St. Louis scored 57 points, the highest scoring game of his great career, in a 141-138 victory over the Detroit Pistons.
February 18, 1964
Wilt Chamberlain scored 52 points against Detroit, his second consecutive 50-point game.
February 18, 1972
Randy Smith of Buffalo played the first of what would become an NBA record 906 consecutive games over an 11-year span, ending in March of 1983. Smith’s record was broken by A.C. Green of the Dallas Mavericks, who played his 907th consecutive game on November 20, 1997.
February 18, 1983
Philadelphia’s Moses Malone scored the NBA’s 4,000,000th point on a tip-in of his own miss at 11:59 of the first quarter against Houston.
February 18, 1984
Former New York Knicks forward Bill Bradley had his uniform #24 retired at Madison Square Garden.
February 18, 1986
San Antonio’s Alvin Robertson recorded just the second quadruple-double (along with Nate Thurmond) in NBA history at the time, with 20 points, 11 rebounds, 10 assists and 10 steals in the Spurs’ 120-114 win over Phoenix. Hakeem Olajuwon and David Robinson later became the two other NBA players to accomplish this feat.
February 18, 1993
The NBA Jam Session Presented by Fleer was introduced at the 1993 All-Star Weekend in Salt Lake City. Jam Session is an event that gives fans the opportunity to experience the NBA interactively through basketball activities and, challenges as well as meeting NBA legends and current stars.
February 18, 1995
John Stockton became the first guard in NBA history to collect 10,000 career assists after dishing off for 15 in Utah’s 108-98 home win over Boston.
February 18, 1996
Chicago’s Michael Jordan pours in 44 points and teammate Scottie Pippen adds 40 during the Bulls’ 110-102 road win at Indiana, as they become the ninth pair of NBA teammates (and just the sixth in a non-overtime game) to score 40 or more points in the same game.
February 19, 1982
Atlanta’s 127-122 four-overtime win over Seattle equaled the fourth-longest game in NBA history and the second-longest since the institution of the 24-second clock.
February 19, 1995
Houston’s Hakeem Olajuwon passed the 10,000-career rebound plateau after pulling down nine boards in the Rockets’ 122-117 loss at New York.
February 18, 2007
The West defeated the East 153-132 in the 56th NBA All-Star Game before 15, 694 fans in Las Vegas.
February 19, 1996
Phoenix’s Charles Barkley pulls down his 10,000th career rebound in the first quarter of the Suns’ 98-94 OT win against visiting Vancouver, becoming the 10th NBA player with 20,000 points and 10,000 rebounds in a career.
February 19, 2001
Guy Rodgers, a four-time NBA All-Star who led the league in assists twice in a 12-year NBA career from 1958 to 1970, died of a heart attack in Los Angeles at age 65.
February 19, 2004
The Atlanta Hawks trade forward Rasheed Wallace to the Detroit Pistons as part of a three-team trade also involving the Boston Celtics. Wallace was with the Hawks for just 10 days — having landed there via an earlier trade with the Portland Trail Blazers — before moving on the Pistons. In Detroit that season, Wallace would prove vital to the Pistons winning the NBA championship.
February 19, 2008
The New Jersey Nets trade star guard Jason Kidd to the Dallas Mavericks. Kidd returned to Dallas, where he spent the first 2 1/2 seasons of his career (1994-96) and would go on to help the Mavs to the NBA title in 2011.
February 19, 2017
The West defeated the East 192-182 in the 66th NBA All-Star Game before 15, 701 fans in New Orleans.
February 20, 1972
Larry Brown of the Denver Rockets set ABA records for assists in a game (23), half (18) and quarter (10) during a 146-123 win over the Pittsburgh Condors at Denver.
February 20, 1996
Utah’s John Stockton became the all-time leader in steals with 2,311, passing previous leader Maurice Cheeks in a 112-98 win over Boston.
February 20, 1997
Houston’s Hakeem Olajuwon became the 15th player in NBA history to score 23,000 career points in a 107-97 win over Toronto.
February 20, 2001
Mark Jackson of the Toronto Raptors recorded 12 assists to move past Isiah Thomas and into fourth place on the NBA’s all-time assists list. Jackson notched his 9,062nd career assist in Toronto’s 113-102 win over Golden State.
February 20, 2003
In a blockbuster trade, the Seattle SuperSonics deal franchise icon Gary Payton (as well as Desmond Mason) to the Milwaukee Bucks for Ray Allen, Flip Murray and Kevin Ollie.
February 20, 2011
The West defeated the East 148-143 in the 60th NBA All-Star Game before 17,163 fans in Los Angeles.
February 20, 2017
On the day after the 2017 NBA All-Star Game, the Sacramento Kings trade All-Star center DeMarcus Cousins to the New Orleans Pelicans. Cousins is sent to New Orleans with forward Omri Casspi for Tyreke Evans, Langston Galloway, Buddy Hield, a 2017 1st round draft pick and a 2017 2nd round draft pick.
February 21, 1952
The Boston Celtics and the Fort Wayne Pistons tipped off at midnight in a “Milkman’s Special” following an Ice Follies performance at Boston Garden. Bob Cousy kept the 2,368 customers awake with 24 points in a 88-67 win.
February 21, 1960
Wilt Chamberlain scored 58 points in the Warriors 129-122 win over the Knicks, tying his rookie record for the most points scored in a game.
February 21, 1976
Red Holzman won his 500th game following New York’s 102-98 win over New Orleans at Madison Square Garden. At the time, Holzman was only the second coach–after Red Auerbach–to reach that plateau.
February 21, 1992
Utah’s John Stockton became only the sixth NBA player ever to collect more than 7,000 career assists when he handed out 15 in a 124-97 Jazz win over Houston at the Delta Center.
February 21, 1993
The West defeated the East 135-132 in overtime in the 43rd annual NBA All-Star Game in Salt Lake City, as Utah’s John Stockton (15 assists) and Karl Malone (28 points) became the first players from the same NBA team to ever share the All-Star Game MVP award.
February 21, 2000
New York’s Patrick Ewing reaches the 23,157-point plateau in an 87-76 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers, good for 16th place on the NBA all-time list ahead, passing Elgin Baylor.
February 21, 2006
Fans at Quicken Loans Arena break the Guinness World Record for “most people wearing wigs in a single venue” when 20,562 fans wear curly wigs given away before the game in celebration of Cleveland Cavaliers forward Anderson Varejao‘s unique hairstyle.
February 21, 2009
Don Nelson joins Lenny Wilkens as one of the only two NBA coaches with 1,300 wins when the Golden State Warriors beat the Oklahoma City Thunder at the Oracle Arena 133-120.
February 21, 2016
Anthony Davis of the New Orleans Pelicans scores 59 points in 111-106 win over the Pistons.
February 22, 1950
Julius Erving is born in Roosevelt, New York.
February 22, 1962
Wilt Chamberlain of the Philadelphia Warriors attempted an NBA record 34 free throws in a 139-121 Warrior victory over St. Louis.
February 22, 1985
George Gervin of San Antonio scored his 25,000th career point (ABA/NBA combined) in a 118-111 win over Phoenix.
February 22, 1992
Golden State Coach Don Nelson became the ninth coach in NBA history to chalk up 700 career victories, following the Warriors’ 126-124 road win over the Los Angeles Lakers. Nelson reached 700 wins in 1,181 games, faster than any other coach except Red Auerbach (1,091 games).
February 22, 1994
The Schick Rookie Game, showcasing first-year NBA players, was introduced in Minneapolis, replacing the Schick Legends Game.
February 22, 1996
In one of the most active trading deadline days ever, six trades involving 19 players took place. Miami’s roster underwent the biggest change, as the Heat acquired Tim Hardaway and Chris Gatling from Golden State, Walt Williams and Tyrone Corbin from Sacramento and Tony Smith from Phoenix.
February 22, 2007
Five-time NBA All-Star Dennis Johnson dies at the age of 52.
After much speculation, Carmelo Anthony (along with Chauncey Billups, Anthony Carter, Renaldo Balkman, and Shelden Williams) gets traded to the New York Knicks in exchange for Raymond Felton, Danilo Gallinari, Wilson Chandler, Timofey Mozgov, $3 million in cash, and a 2014 first-round draft pick. That night, the Knicks also moved three players in a trade with the Minnesota Timberwolves. This trade sent Corey Brewer to New York for Eddy Curry, Anthony Randolph, and $3 million in cash.
February 23, 1986
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar of the Los Angeles Lakers replaced Elvin Hayes as the NBA’s all-time leader in games played when he appeared in his 1,304th game, a 117-111 overtime win at Philadelphia. Abdul-Jabbar went on to play in 1,560 games and is now second all-time to Robert Parish, who played in 1,611 games.
February 23, 1987
Nate McMillan of the Seattle SuperSonics tied the rookie record for assists in one game when he handed out 25 assists in a game against the Los Angeles Clippers. McMillan matched Ernie DiGregorio, who tallied 25 assists on January 1, 1974 against Portland.
February 23, 1992
Hakeem Olajuwon of Houston rejected seven shots in the Rockets’ 90-83 win over San Antonio at The Summit, becoming the sixth player in NBA history to register 2,000 career blocks.
February 23, 1993
Utah’s John Stockton picked up seven assists in a 105-78 loss to Houston, becoming only the fourth guard (along with Oscar Robertson, Magic Johnson and Isiah Thomas) in NBA history to reach the 8,000 career assist plateau.
February 24, 1967
Wilt Chamberlain of Philadelphia shot 18-for-18 from the field against the Baltimore Bullets, an NBA record for field goals in a game without a miss.
February 24, 1978
Kevin Porter of the New Jersey Nets handed out 29 assists in a 126-112 win over Houston, an NBA record that lasted more than a dozen years, until Orlando’s Scott Skiles collected 30 assists against Denver on December 30, 1990.
February 24, 1998
Houston’s Hakeem Olajuwon became the eighth player in NBA history to play 1,000 or more games with the same team. John Stockton is the all-time leader, having played in more than 1,300 games for the Utah Jazz.
February 24, 2023
Malik Monk scores a career-high 45 points and De’Aaron Fox had the go-ahead basket and finished with 42 as the Sacramento Kings beat the LA Clippers 176-175 in double overtime in the second-highest scoring game in NBA history. Detroit beat Denver 186-184 in triple overtime on Dec. 13, 1983, in the highest-scoring NBA game. The Kings are third on the scoring list with the 176 points and the Clippers fourth.
February 25, 1977
“Pistol” Pete Maravich scored a career-high 68 points as the New Orleans Jazz defeated New York 124-107. Only five NBA players have ever scored more than 68 points in a game.
February 25, 1995
During Philadelphia’s 84-75 home setback against Indiana, Dana Barros hits a single three-pointer, giving him the NBA single-season record of 44 consecutive games with at least one three-point field goal, breaking Michael Adams’ previous mark of 43. Barros stretched the streak to 58 games by the season’s end and 89 games before it ended on January 12, 1996.
February 25, 1998
Bill Fitch passed Red Auerbach (938) to become at the time the second-winningest coach in NBA history with a 117-108 win over Philadelphia.
February 25, 1999
The NBA and Hard Rock Care, International broke ground and unveiled the name — NBA City — and logo of the first-ever NBA restaurant. NBA City opened in summer 1999 in the Citywalk entertainment district at Universal Studios Escape in Orlando, Florida.
February 25, 1999
Indiana’s Reggie Miller becomes the first NBA player to reach 4,000 three-point field goal attempts in a 81-74 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers.
February 25, 2016
Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors scores 51 points in a 130-114 win over the Orlando Magic.
February 26, 1985
Philadelphia’s Julius Erving passed Elvin Hayes (27,313 points) as the third leading all-time scorer in pro basketball history during the 76ers’ 116-97 loss at Milwaukee.
February 26, 2002
By playing five minutes in the Kings’ 107-81 triumph over Utah, Sacramento’s Chucky Brown set a league record by taking the floor with his 12th NBA team.
February 26, 2012
The West defeated the East 152-149 in the 61st NBA All-Star Game before 17, 125 fans in Orlando, Fl.
February 26, 2023
Damian Lillard sets a franchise and career highs with 71 points — tied for the most in the NBA this season — and 13 3-pointers and the Portland Trail Blazers snapped a two-game skid with a 131-114 victory over the Houston Rockets. Lillard’s 13 3-pointers were one shy of the NBA record set by Golden State’s Klay Thompson in 2018.
February 27, 1955
Boston beat Milwaukee 62-57 at Providence, Rhode Island in a game which set a record for fewest points scored by both teams since the introduction of the 24-second clock.
February 27, 1959
Boston Celtics star Bob Cousy dished off for what was then an NBA record 28 assists in a 173-139 win over Minneapolis, the highest scoring game in NBA history at that time. Boston’s 173 points is still the record for a non-overtime game, a mark that was matched by Phoenix in 1990. Scott Skiles of Orlando set the NBA single-game assist record of 30 on December 30, 1990. Cousy’s record of 19 assists in one half has stood for more than 40 years.
February 27, 1996
The Bulls defeated Minnesota 120-99 at the United Center and improved to 50-6, reaching 50 wins with the fewest losses in a season of any major professional sports team (NBA, NHL, NFL, MLB) this century.
February 27, 1998
The Indiana Pacers defeat the Portland Trail Blazers 124-59. The 65-point margin of victory is the second-largest in NBA history, outpaced only by the 68-point margin when Cleveland defeated Miami 148-80 on December 17, 1991.
February 27, 1999
Los Angeles Clippers broadcaster Ralph Lawler works his 1,500th Clippers game in a game against the Atlanta Hawks.
February 27, 1999
The Golden State Warriors, with a 110-93 defeat of Denver, became the seventh franchise in NBA history to register 2,000 victories. The Warriors’ mark includes the triumphs posted by the Philadelphia Warriors (1946-62) and San Francisco Warriors (1962-71).
February 27, 2002
Mengke Bateer becomes the second player from China to play in the NBA, when he joins the Denver Nuggets and records three rebounds in 14 minutes of Denver’s 110-93 loss at Golden State.
February 27, 2012
In the third quarter of the West’s 152-149 victory over the East, Kobe Bryant breaks Michael Jordan’s record for career points scored in the ASG. Needing 19 points to surpass Jordan’s record of 262 career points, Bryant finished the game with 27 points to set the new record at 271 points.
February 27, 2013
Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors scores 54 points in a 109-105 loss to the New York Knicks.
February 28, 1967
Wilt Chamberlain missed his first field goal in four games to end his NBA record shooting streak of 35 consecutive field goals, during Philadelphia’s 127-107 victory over Cincinnati at Syracuse.
February 28, 1981
Houston’s Calvin Murphy made the last of his 78 consecutive free throws, in a game against San Diego, setting what was then an NBA record. The record was later broken during the 1993-94 season by Minnesota’s Micheal Williams, who converted 97 consecutive free throws.
February 28, 1987
Los Angeles Lakers broadcaster Chick Hearn called his 2,000th consecutive game for the club, a streak spanning 22 years.
February 28, 2003
Patrick Ewing, New York Knicks legend, and the first ever NBA lottery draft pick, watches as his jersey number 33 is retired before a cheering crowd at Madison Square Garden.
February 28, 2013
Joakim Noah of the Chicago Bulls blocks 11 shots in a 93-82 win over the Phliladelphia 76ers.
February 29, 1964
Cincinnati Royals teammates Jerry Lucas and Oscar Robertson combined for a rare 40-40 performance as the Royals defeated the host Philadelphia 76ers 117-114. Rookie of the Year Lucas collected a team-record 40 rebounds and league MVP Robertson tallied 43 points.
