December 3

1924 - Fred Taylor, Hall of Fame coach of the Ohio State Buckeyes, is born in Zanesville, Ohio.

1946 - "Jumpin' Joe" Fulks of the Philadelphia Warriors sets a league scoring mark with 37 points against the Providence Steamrollers at Philadelphia. Fulks’s 50 field goal attempts (he made 16) were the most by a player during a game in the Basketball Association of America’s inaugural season. The BAA was the forerunner to the NBA.

1956 - Wilt Chamberlain makes his debut with the Kansas Jayhawks by scoring a school-record 52 points in an 87-69 victory over Northwestern.

1966 - Lew Alcindor (later to become Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) plays his first game for the UCLA Bruins, scoring a school-record 56 points in a 105-90 triumph over cross-town rival USC at Pauley Pavilion.

1993 - The Houston Rockets lose to the Atlanta Hawks, 133-111, to end their 15-game winning streak that started the season. That start ties the all-time NBA record set by the Washington Capitols at the start of the 1948-49 season.

1997 - Latrell Sprewell's four-year, $32 million dollar contract was terminated by the Golden State Warriors for attacking coach P. J. Carlesimo. If successful in the termination, the Warriors would avoid paying the approximately $24 million speedwell was scheduled to earn in the in final three years of the four-year deal signed before last season. It marks the first time an NBA player had his contract terminated for insubordination. Both actions are appealed by the NBA Players Association.