Today's (and Yesterday's) Date in NBA History

(Boulder-CO) Today's date is April 25th, and on this day (and yesterday's date):

April 24, 1963 Bob Cousy ended his Boston career on a high note as he helped the Celtics defeat the Los Angeles Lakers 112-109 in Game 6 of the NBA Finals for the team’s fifth consecutive NBA Championship. It was Cousy’s last game in a Celtics uniform, although he did appear in seven games as player-coach for the Cincinnati Royals during the 1969-70 season.

April 24, 1964 Wilt Chamberlain of the San Francisco Warriors grabbed 38 rebounds against the Boston Celtics and arch-rival Bill Russell, in Game 4 of the NBA Finals, a 98-95 Boston win. During the regular season, however, Russell led the league in rebounding with a 24.7 rpg mark to Chamberlain’s 22.3 rpg.

April 24, 1967 The 1967 Philadelphia 76ers, who in 1980 were voted the NBA’s all-time greatest team, beat San Francisco 125-122 in Game 6 of the Finals to win the NBA Championship, ending Boston’s eight-year string of league titles.

April 24, 1988 Milwaukee’s Jack Sikma became the tallest player (7-0) in NBA history to win the NBA free throw title by shooting 92% from the line.

April 24, 1993 The Milwaukee Bucks retired the #33 jersey worn by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for six seasons. Abdul-Jabbar led the Bucks to the 1971 NBA championship with a sweep of the Baltimore Bullets in the Finals. He had previously had his jersey retired by the Los Angeles Lakers, with whom he won five NBA titles.

April 24, 1994 David Robinson of San Antonio became just the fourth NBA player to score 70 points in a game, hitting for 71 in the Spurs’ 112-97 road win against the LA Clippers. Robinson finished the 1993-94 season as the NBA’s scoring champion, edging out Orlando’s Shaquille O’Neal 29 8 to 29 3 ppg.

April 24, 1994 Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf of Denver finished the 1993-94 season by hitting 219-of-229 free throw attempts for a 95.6% free throw percentage, the second-highest in NBA history behind Calvin Murphy’s mark of 95.8% in 1980-81.

April 24, 1995 Atlanta Coach Lenny Wilkens, the NBA’s all-time leader in victories with 968 at the close of the 1994-95 season, was named coach of the 1996 United States Olympic Men’s Basketball team.

April 24, 1996 The NBA Board of Governors approved the concept of the Women’s National Basketball Association to begin play as a summer league in 1997.

April 25, 1950 Chuck Cooper of Duquesne became the first black player ever selected (by Boston in the second round) in the NBA Draft.

April 25, 1950 New York purchased the contract of Nat "Sweetwater" Clifton from the Harlem Globetrotters making him the first black player to sign an NBA contract.

April 25, 1968 The nickname “Suns” was chosen as the name of the Phoenix franchise, in a contest sponsored by a local newspaper.

April 25, 1965 Jerry West of Los Angeles averaged 46.3 points per game as the Lakers defeated the Baltimore Bullets in six games in the 1965 Western Division Finals. West scored at least 40 points in every game in posting the highest scoring average for a playoff series in NBA history.

April 25, 1993 Chicago’s Michael Jordan captured his seventh straight NBA scoring title (32.6 ppg), tying Wilt Chamberlain’s NBA record. Jordan also led the league in steals (2.83 spg) for the third time in his career, becoming the fourth NBA player to collect 1,800 career thefts.

April 25, 1993 Minnesota’s Micheal Williams, in a 113-111 win over Utah in the season finale, went 10-for-10 from the free throw line, allowing him to finish the 1992-93 season with an NBA record 84 consecutive free throws made. Williams, who stretched the streak to 97 consecutive free throws early in the 1993-94 season before missing, broke Calvin Murphy’s NBA record of 78 consecutive FTs, which had stood since the 1980-81 season.

April 25, 1993 Cleveland became the first team in NBA history to lead the league in field goal percentage (.497), free throw percentage (.802), and three-point field goal percentage (.381). The Cavaliers finished the season with a 54-28 record.

Enjoy your day!