June 9

1908 - Hall of Fame Indiana University player Branch McCracken, who scorched the nets in 1930 with 147 points to set the Big Ten season scoring record, is born in Monrovia, Indiana. He also coached his alma mater to two NCAA championships.

1939 - Right: Hall of Famer Dick Vitale, better known for his verbosity than for his coaching, is born in Passaic, New Jersey.

1947 - The Cleveland Rebels, a charter franchise in the Basketball Association of America (BAA), the forerunner of the NBA, fold.

1977 - Three-time NBA All-Star Peja Stojakovic is born in Slavoska Pozega, Croatia.

1980 - Red Auerbach cements his reputation as one of the greatest executives in NBA history with his second-most famous trade. Auerbach obtains center Robert Parish and a 1980 first round draft choice (that would become forward Kevin McHale) from the Golden State Warriors for a pair of 1980 first round draft choices (that became Joe Barry Carroll and Rickey Brown). Parish, McHale and Larry Bird are considered by many experts to be the greatest starting frontcourt in NBA history. The trio won three NBA titles in their first six seasons together.

1985 - The Los Angeles Lakers beat Boston, 111-100, in Game 6 to win the NBA Finals. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is unanimously voted NBA Finals MVP; at 38, Abdul-Jabbar is the oldest player ever to gain that honor.

1987 - Magic Johnson hits a running baby hook over Robert Parish and Kevin McHale to give the Los Angeles Lakers a 107-106 victory over the Boston Celtics in Game 4 of the 1987 NBA Finals.

2000 - The Hack-a-Shaq strategy reaches a peak, as Shaquille O'Neal (above) of the Los Angeles Lakers goes to the free throw line for an NBA Playoff-record 39 attempts in a game against the Indiana Pacers. Boston’s Bob Cousy held the previous playoff record of 32 attempts in a four-overtime game vs. Syracuse on March 21, 1953. The previous Finals mark was 24, set by St. Louis’s Bob Pettit against Boston on April 9, 1958. O’Neal’s 18 free throws made in Game 2 were one less than Pettit’s 19 against the Celtics.