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This Day in Basketball History

Mario Anzuoni / Reuters

1950 - First back-to-back NBA title

The 1949-50 season was the first where the league became known as the National Basketball Association, but it ended up marking the first time that a franchise won back-to-back NBA championships.

After lifting the trophy in the third and final season of the Basketball Association of America in 1948-49, the Minneapolis Lakers defended their title the following year by defeating the Syracuse Nationals 110-95 to claim a best-of-seven series in six games. It also remains the only occasion to date where a franchise won each of its first two NBA seasons.

As can be seen in the box score below, George Mikan, a center who wore No. 99, was pretty much the reason for the Lakers' second championship. He went on to another three with the franchise before taking over as their coach in 1957.

[Courtesy: Basketball Reference]

1969 - "Mr. Clutch" drops 53 points

En route to being named MVP for the series, Jerry West scored 53 points in Game 1 of the 1969 NBA Finals as the Los Angeles Lakers downed the Boston Celtics 120-118.

Although the Celtics ended up taking the series in seven games, West's 53-point performance ranked as the highest-scoring contest by a guard in the history of the NBA Finals.

However, 24 years later, none other than Michael Jordan broke the record by scoring 55 points against the Phoenix Suns in Game 4 of the 1993 NBA Finals.

1989 - Goodbye, Kareem

One of the most prolific careers to ever grace the league came to an end in 1989 when Kareem Abdul-Jabbar played his NBA-record 1,560th and final regular-season game.

Taking on the Seattle SuperSonics, Abdul-Jabbar posted the last 10 of his unsurpassed 38,387 career points, while also putting up six rebounds, three assists, and one block.

Magic Johnson was also on the court for Abdul-Jabbar's swan song, providing a last glimpse at one of the most phenomenal duos to ever dawn the purple and gold.

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