This day in sports: Lakers clinch NBA titles in 1987 and 2009
The Lakers won two NBA championships on this date, beating the Boston Celtics in 1987 and the Orlando Magic in 2009.
In 1987, the Lakers welcomed their 10th franchise NBA title with a 106-93 win over the Celtics in Game 6 at the Forum. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar scored 32 points, and Magic Johnson added 16 points and 19 assists.
In 2009, Kobe Bryant scored 30 points to lead the Lakers to their 15th league crown, 99-86 in Game 5 against the Magic at Amway Center in Orlando, Fla. It was Bryant’s fourth championship and the first without center Shaquille O’Neal. It was also the 10th career title for coach Phil Jackson, who moved ahead of Red Auerbach on the all-time list.
In the wake of the George Floyd killing, athletes and leagues have led with bold words and actions, but will the power of their protest carry over to the games?
The Dodgers were scheduled to end a six-game trip Sunday with a day game against the Braves in Atlanta. The Angels would have completed a three-game series with the Seattle Mariners at Angel Stadium. Both games were postponed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Here is a look at other memorable games and outstanding sports performances on this date:
1922 — Gene Sarazen, 20, wins the first of his seven major golf championships when he edges John Black and 20-year-old amateur Bobby Jones by one stroke in the U.S. Open at Skokie Country Club outside Chicago. Sarazen makes a two-putt birdie on the finishing hole for a 68 and a 288 total. Black needs par on the final two holes to force a playoff, but his tee shot on No. 17 goes out of bounds.
1934 — Max Baer knocks out defending champion Primo Carnera of Italy in the 11th round to win the world heavyweight title at Long Island, N.Y. Baer knocks down the 6-foot-6 Carnera three times in the first round and 11 times overall in the fight that is stopped when he lands a massive right hand to the giant Italian’s chin.
1959 — Billy Casper wins his first major golf tournament when he takes the U.S. Open at Winged Foot Golf Club at Mamaroneck, N.Y., by a stroke over Bob Rosburg. Casper, from San Diego, fires a 72-hole total of 282 to win the first of two career U.S. Opens. The second comes in 1966 at Olympic Club in San Francisco. Casper takes the lead in the second round and holds off Arnold Palmer, Ben Hogan, Sam Snead and Gary Player the rest of the way.
1981 — Donna Caponi Young wins the LPGA Championship for the second time in three years when she sinks a 15-foot birdie putt on the 72nd hole to finish a stroke ahead of Jerilyn Britz and Pat Meyers on the Grizzly Course at the Jack Nicklaus Golf Center in Mason, Ohio. Caponi Young finishes at eight-under-par 280.
1991 — Leroy Burrell sets a world record in the 100 meters at the U.S. track and field championships in New York when he runs the dash in 9.90 seconds, erasing Carl Lewis’ record time of 9.92. Lewis finishes second in 9.93, the third-best legal time ever. Dennis Mitchell is third at 10.00. Burrell leads the entire race, but Lewis closes at 50 meters and nearly catches him at the finish.
1994 — The New York Rangers hold off the Vancouver Canucks 3-2 in Game 7 at Madison Square Garden for their first Stanley Cup championship in 54 years. Brian Leetch, who is named most valuable player, Adam Graves and Mark Messier each score goals, and Mike Richter stops 28 shots. The Canucks had erased a 3-1 series deficit by winning Games 5 and 6.
Some NBA players are considering not returning when the season reconvenes, concerned that doing so would distract from steps toward racial equality and police reform.
2005 — Asafa Powell of Jamaica breaks the world record in the 100 meters in a time of 9.77 seconds at a meet in Athens, Greece. Powell shaves 0.01 off American Tim Montgomery’s mark of 9.78 that Montgomery set in Paris in 2002. Montgomery’s mark is scratched later in his career because of performance-enhancing substance charges.
2005 — Michelle Wie becomes the first female golfer to qualify for an adult male U.S. Golf Assn. championship when she ties for first place in a 36-hole U.S. Amateur Public Links sectional qualifying tournament at Belle Vernon, Pa.
2007 — The San Antonio Spurs, who entered the NBA as refugees from the American Basketball Assn. in 1976, join the league’s greatest franchises with an 83-82 victory and a sweep of the Cleveland Cavaliers in the NBA Finals for their fourth championship since 1999. The Spurs join the Lakers, the Celtics and Chicago Bulls as the only teams in the NBA to win four titles.
Sources: The Times, Associated Press
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