Today in Sports – Kareem Abdul-Jabbar plays final NBA game
April 4
1921 — The NHL champion Ottawa Senators beat the Pacific Coast Hockey Association champion Vancouver Millionaires 2-1 to win the Stanley Cup 3 games to 2.
1937 — Byron Nelson shoots a 283 to win the Masters by two strokes over Ralph Guldahl.
1938 — Henry Picard beats Ralph Guldahl and Harry Cooper by two strokes to capture the Masters.
1959 — France beats Wales, 11-3 at Stade Colombes to win the Five Nations Rugby Championship outright for the first time.
1974 — Hank Aaron ties Babe Ruth’s home-run record by hitting his 714th.
1983 — Lorenzo Charles scores on a dunk after Derek Whittenburg’s 35-foot desperation shot falls short to give North Carolina State a 54-52 triumph over Houston in the NCAA championship.
1985 — Tulane University cancels its basketball season.
1986 — Edmonton’s Wayne Gretzky breaks his own NHL single-season points record with three assists to increase his total to 214. He scored 212 points in 1981-82.
1987 — New York’s Denis Potvin, the highest-scoring defenseman in NHL history, scores his 1,000th point.
1988 — Danny Manning scores 31 points and grabs 18 rebounds as Kansas wins its second NCAA championship with an 83-79 victory over Oklahoma.
1989 — Kareem Abdul-Jabbar plays final NBA game.
1989 — NY Yankee Tommy John ties record of playing 26 seasons.
1993 — Sheryl Swoopes shatters the women’s championship game record by scoring 47 points to lead Texas Tech to an 84-82 victory over Ohio State.
1993 — Mario Andretti, at 53, wins the Valvoline 200 in Phoenix to become the oldest driver to win an Indy car race and the first driver to win a race in four different decades.
1994 — Arkansas wins its first men’s national championship with a 76-72 victory over Duke, depriving the Blue Devils of a third title in four years.
1997 — Anaheim Ducks clinch their 1st-ever playoff berth.
1997 — Braves officially open Turner Field.
1998 — Mark McGwire ties Willie Mays’ National League record by hitting a home run in each of his first four games. McGwire launches a towering three-run shot in the sixth inning of an 8-6 victory over the San Diego
2001 — Hideo Nomo becomes the fourth pitcher in major league history to throw a no-hitter in both leagues in Boston’s 3-0 victory over Baltimore.
2003 — Sammy Sosa of the Chicago Cubs becomes the 18th player to hit 500 career homers, connecting for a solo shot in a 10-9 loss to Cincinnati.
2004 — Carolina’s Brad Fast beat Florida goalie Roberto Luongo with a wrist shot to tie the game at 6-6 late in the third period. It’s the final tie game in NHL history.
2005 — North Carolina defeats Illinois to win the NCAA Division I men’s basketball championship. Sean May has 26 points and the Tar Heels don’t allow a basket over the final 2 1/2 minutes to defeat Illinois 75-70.
2006 — 25th NCAA Women’s Basketball Championship: Maryland beats Duke, 78-75 OT.
2011 — Kemba Walker scores 16 points and Alex Oriakhi has 11 points, 11 rebounds and four blocked shots to lead Connecticut to a 53-41 win over Butler in the men’s NCAA championship game.
2015 — The United States defends their women’s world hockey championship with a 7-5 win over Canada.
2016 — Kris Jenkins hits a 3-pointer at the buzzer to lift Villanova to the national title with a 77-74 victory over North Carolina — one of the wildest finishes in the history of the NCAA Tournament. Jenkins’ shot comes moments after Marcus Paige hit a double-clutch 3 from beyond the arc to tie the game at 74 with 4.7 seconds left.
2021 — 39th NCAA Women’s Basketball Championship: Stanford Cardinal defeat Arizona Wildcats, 54–53.
_____