December 5
From Hoopedia
- 1895 - The first basketball game played in China takes place at the Tianjin (then called Tientsin) YMCA, under the guidance of Dr. Willard Lyon.
- 1905 - Hall of Fame coach Bruce Drake (right), who made Oklahoma a power in the Big 6 in the 1930s and 1940s, is born in Gentry, Texas.
- 1923 - Hall of Fame contributor Bill Davidson, owner of the Detroit Pistons, is born in Detroit, Michigan.
- 1967 - Walt Hazzard of Seattle scores 15 consecutive points in a 133-121 loss to San Francisco at Oakland, tying an NBA record held by Wilt Chamberlain.
- 1979 - Darryl Dawkins of the Philadelphia 76ers breaks his second backboard of the season in a game against the San Antonio Spurs at the Philadelphia Spectrum.
- 1979 - ESPN broadcasts the Wisconsin-DePaul game, the first-ever college game they carried. DePaul wins, 90-77. The game is called by (who else?) Hall of Famer Dick Vitale.
- 1996 - Portland's Jermaine O'Neal becomes the youngest player ever to play in a regular season NBA game at 18 years, one month and 22 days of age. That record lasted until Andrew Bynum breaks it in 2005. O'Neal breaks the previous record, set by Bill Willoughby of the Atlanta Hawks in 1975.
- 1997 - Former Arizona State Sun Devils players Stevin Smith and Isaac Burton, Jr. plead guilty to charges of conspiracy to commit sports bribery in a point shaving scheme. They admitted taking payoffs for shaving points in four Arizona State home games in the 1993-94 season.
- 1999 – The Lady Vols coach Pat Summitt wins her 700th game 85-62 against Wisconsin joining Jody Conradt as the only women’s coaches to reach the 700-win club.
