On February 27, 1998, the Pacers destroyed the Portland Trail Blazers 124-59, becoming the only team in NBA history to double their opponent's score.

On December 30, 1990, Magic point guard Scott Skiles racked up 30 assists in a 155-116 victory over the Denver Nuggets, breaking Kevin Porter's NBA single-game assists record (29). More than doubling his points, assists, and steals from the previous season, Skiles was named the NBA's Most Improved Player (1990-91).

The longest NBA game in history occurred on January 6, 1951 between the Indianapolis Olympians and the Rochester Royals. Indianapolis beat Rochester 75-73 after 6 overtimes.

Mike Rice's outspoken demeanor resulted in his 1994 ejection from a Portland Trail Blazers game while working a radio broadcast. As Rice tells the story: "At the time, Steve Javie, the official, was a young official. That previous week he had kicked out a mascot, a fan, and kicked somebody else out, a trainer or something like that. He was on a roll that week, he had made a call, and I looked on the monitor and saw it was a bad call on Cliff Robinson. I kind of put my hands like that [two hands over his head] and he ran over. Cliff thought he was going to call a technical on him, because Cliff was standing there doing the same thing. He ran by Cliff and that's when he kicked me out of the game -- the rest is history."

Throughout the history of basketball there have always been athletes with the size and strength to slam dunk the ball through the rim. However, the first NBA player to shatter a backboard, Chuck Connors (who would become far more famous as the star of The Rifleman), did not do so with a dunk. When playing for the Boston Celtics in 1946, Connors took a set shot during pregame warmups, hitting the front of the rim. Because an arena worker had failed to place a protective piece between the rim and backboard, the backboard shattered.

On April 9, 2019, in a 120-109 season finale loss to the Dallas Mavericks, Phoenix Suns guard Jamal Crawford made NBA history by recording 51 points at 39 years old and 20 days. He broke two NBA records: the oldest player to tally 50+ points--previously held by Michael Jordan at 38 years and 315 days--as well as the most points scored by a player not in the starting lineup, previously held by Nick Anderson with 50 points.

Lenny Wilkens was a combined 13-time NBA All-Star (as a player nine times and as a head coach four times), was the 1993 NBA Coach of the Year, and won the Chuck Daly Lifetime Achievement Award for the 2010-11 NBA season. At the time of his retirement, he was the winningest coach in NBA history with 1,332 victories.

In high school, Garnett was a 1995 McDonald's All-American at Farragut Career Academy and won a national player of the year award. He entered the 1995 NBA draft, where he was selected fifth overall by the Timberwolves and became the first NBA player drafted directly out of high school in 20 years.

Bill Laimbeer's Combat Basketball (1991) was a futuristic video game that took place in the year 2031. Bill Laimbeer, who played for the Detroit Pistons at a time when the team was notorious for aggressive and physical play, has become commissioner of a basketball league, fired the referees and created a style of play without rules. There are no fouls and use of weapons is perfectly legal.

During his rookie season with the Detroit Pistons, Dave DeBusschere also played Major League Baseball for the White Sox. On August 13, 1963, he pitched a shutout against the Cleveland Indians, giving up six hits, one walk and striking out three. He is one of only 13 athletes to have played in both the National Basketball Association and Major League Baseball.