April 25

From Hoopedia

• 1932 - Hall of Famer Meadowlark Lemon (right), who starred in over 16,000 games with the Harlem Globetrotters, is born in Lexington, South Carolina.

• 1950 - The ice of segregation is broken at the 1950 NBA Draft as two African American players are chosen. The Boston Celtics pick Chuck Cooper in the second round, while the Washington Capitols pick Earl Lloyd in the ninth round. At the same time, the New York Knicks purchase the contract of Nat "Sweetwater" Clifton from the Harlem Globetrotters making him the first black player to be under contract to an NBA club.

• 1965 - Jerry West of Los Angeles averages 46.3 points per game as the Lakers defeat 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.

• 1966 - Legendary Boston Celtics coach Red Auerbach announces that he will retire from coaching at the end of the season, having guided the Celts to their ninth NBA championships in sixteen seasons.

• 1968 - (Right:) Club officials announce that the new NBA franchise in Arizona will be known as the Phoenix Suns.

• 1976 - Two-time NBA league MVP Tim Duncan is born in St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands.

• 1993 - Chicago’s Michael Jordan captures his seventh straight NBA scoring title (32.6 PPG), tying Wilt Chamberlain’s NBA record.

• 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 finish the season with a 54-28 record.