THIS DAY IN THE NBA

February 1, 1967 The American Basketball Association was born. The league, which fielded 11 teams in its first season, lasted until the 1975-76 season, when it was forced to disband after facing financial difficulties. Four former ABA clubs joined the NBA in the summer of 1976--the Denver Nuggets, Indiana Pacers, New York (now New Jersey) Nets and San Antonio Spurs.

February 1, 1984 Bernard King scored 50 points for the Knicks at Dallas, equaling the 50 he tallied the night before in San Antonio. He was the first player to score 50 points on consecutive nights since Wilt Chamberlain did it 20 years earlier.

February 1, 1984 David J. Stern officially took over as the NBA’s fourth Commissioner, replacing the retired Larry O’Brien, who had served as Commissioner since 1975. Stern had previously served as the NBA’s first General Counsel and later as Executive VP of Legal & Business Affairs.

February 1, 1995 With a crisp bounce pass to teammate Karl Malone, who hit a jumper from the corner, Utah guard John Stockton became the NBA’s all-time leader in assists with 9,922, surpassing the mark previously established by Magic Johnson. Utah topped visiting Denver 129-88 and Stockton finished with a game-high 16 assists.

February 1, 1996 Chicago defeated host Sacramento 105-85, giving the Bulls a 40-3 record, the most wins ever in a season with just three losses. That broke the 197 1-72 LA Lakers’ record, who started the season with a 39-3 mark but then lost their 43rd game to give them a 39-4 record.

February 1, 1998 Karl Malone scored 20 points to pass Oscar Robertson (26,710 points) for sixth place on the NBA's all-time scoring list.

February 1, 2001 Karl Malone of the Utah Jazz grabbed the 13,000th rebound of his career in an 87-76 win over Charlotte, helping him become the sixth player in NBA history to record 26,000 points and 13,000 rebounds in his career. Malone joined Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Wilt Chamberlain, Moses Malone, Elvin Hayes and Hakeem Olajuwon.