December 22

From Hoopedia

• 1956 - (Right) Bill Russell plays in his first NBA game, joining the Celtics after returning to America with an Olympic gold medal.

• 1969 - Even before there was a Shaq there was a Hack-a-Shaq. The Oregon State Beavers try it on LSU's Pete Maravich. In a dirty game filled with personal and technical fouls, Maravich sets the NCAA Division I free throw record, making 30 of 31 attempts, and scoring 46. LSU wins, 76-68.

• 1971 - The Los Angeles Lakers set a consecutive win record for any professional sport by beating the Baltimore Bullets, 127-120, for their 27th straight victory. That win broke a tie with baseball's New York Giants, who won 26 games in a row in 1916. The Lakers' streak eventually stretches to an historic 33 games.

• 1988 - In the final seconds of the third quarter of the Los Angeles Clippers - Houston Rockets game, Buck Johnson of the Rockets hits a 55-footer with one second left to take the lead. On the next possession, the Clippers' Danny Manning hits a 43-footer as time expires to win the game.

• 1998 - Under increasing financial pressure, the women's American Basketball League, which began play in 1996, disbands. Many of the players will go on to join WNBA teams.

• 1999 - The last game is played on the Boston Garden's famous parquet floor.

• 2005 - In the aftermath of the Pacers-Pistons Brawl, Federal arbitrator Roger Kaplan issues a decision denying a challenge to the NBA's suspensions of Indiana's Ron Artest, Stephen Jackson and Anthony Johnson filed by the NBA Players Association. Mr. Kaplan did rule, however, that the 25-game suspension imposed on Jermaine O'Neal should be shortened to 15 games. Mr. Kaplan concludes that he, rather than the NBA Commissioner, has the power to review these suspensions.