July • On July 2, 2008, the city of
Seattle and the
Seattle SuperSonics (owned by the
Oklahoma City,
Oklahoma-based
Professional Basketball Club LLC) reached a settlement where the defendants agreed to pay $45 million to relocate the team to Oklahoma City, retain the SuperSonics' players, coaches, and contracts, and "share" the SuperSonics' franchise history with a hypothetical future Seattle team. However, the SuperSonics name, colors, and logo remained reserved for a future Seattle club. The team was named the
Oklahoma City Thunder on September 3, 2008. • On July 23, 2008, restricted free agent
Josh Childress signed with
Euroleague club
Olympiacos for three years and $20 million net (the biggest signing in Euroleague history), marking the first departure of an American-born player to Europe in the prime of his career.
October • On October 11, 2008, the NBA's first outdoor game in more than three decades was held on the
Indian Wells Tennis Garden in
Indian Wells, California. The game was played between the
Denver Nuggets and
Phoenix Suns, who played the last outdoor game against the
Milwaukee Bucks in 1972. • On October 23, 2008, the NBA Board of Governors (owners) approved expanded use of instant replays for this season to determine if made baskets would be worth two or three points, and to award either two or three free throws on shooting fouls.
December • On December 10, 2008,
Carmelo Anthony scored 33 of his season-high 45 points in the third quarter in a win against the Minnesota Timberwolves, breaking the franchise record and equaling the league record for most points in a quarter. • On December 11, 2008,
Cuttino Mobley retired from the NBA because of a severe case of
hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, a heart disease. • On December 25, 2008, the
Los Angeles Lakers broke the
Boston Celtics' 19-game winning streak in a rematch of the previous season's NBA Finals.
January • On January 22, 2009,
Alonzo Mourning retired from the NBA after 15 seasons.
February • On February 4, 2009,
LeBron James's 52-point
triple-double against the
New York Knicks on February 4 was negated by subtracting a rebound from his total. The negated rebound was given to
Ben Wallace. James would have been the first player since
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in 1975 to have a 50-point triple-double. • On February 5, 2009, the Los Angeles Lakers broke another Celtic winning streak this time at 12-game winning streak, joining a short list of teams to break two 12+ game win streaks in a season. • On February 8, 2009, the Los Angeles Lakers broke the
Cleveland Cavaliers' 23-game home-winning streak. In doing so, the Lakers became the first team in NBA history to win back-to-back games on the road (Boston and Cleveland) against teams with .800-plus win percentages at least 40 games into the season. ----
NBA All-Star Break The 2009 NBA All-Star Game was played at the US Airways Center, home of the Phoenix Suns, on February 15, 2009, with the West winning 146–119 and the Phoenix Suns'
Shaquille O'Neal and Los Angeles Lakers'
Kobe Bryant being named the Co-MVPs. During the NBA All-Star Weekend,
Nate Robinson of the
New York Knicks won the Sprite Slam Dunk competition;
Kevin Durant, who won the Rookie Challenge MVP, also won the inaugural
H.O.R.S.E Competition and Miami's
Daequan Cook beat
Rashard Lewis in a tiebreaker to win the Foot Locker Three-Point Shootout. ---- • On February 20, 2009,
Utah Jazz owner
Larry H. Miller died from complications of
diabetes at the age of 64. • On February 20, 2009, the
Phoenix Suns became the first team since the 1990
Portland Trail Blazers to have three consecutive games of scoring 140 points or more. • On February 22, 2009,
Portland Trail Blazers point guard
Steve Blake tied an NBA record by recording 14 assists in the first quarter in a game against the
Los Angeles Clippers. • On February 26, 2009,
Chicago Bulls legends
Norm Van Lier and
Johnny "Red" Kerr died at the ages of 61 and 76, respectively.
March • On March 3, 2009, in the NBA's third annual
Noche Latina event, a program that recognizes the NBA's fans and players from across Latin America and U.S. Hispanic communities, the Los Angeles Lakers wore celebratory jerseys (with the wording
Los Lakers) in their 99–89 win over the Memphis Grizzlies. Noche Latina celebrations took place in eight of the top ten American Hispanic markets in the NBA this season (up from four in 2007–08): Los Angeles, Miami, Phoenix, San Antonio, Dallas, Chicago, Houston and New York. • On March 10, 2009, the
Utah Jazz won their 12th game in a row. That was the fourth-longest win streak in franchise history and the longest since 1999. It was later broken by a loss to the
Atlanta Hawks. • On March 13, 2009,
Detroit Pistons owner
William Davidson died at the age of 86. • On March 13, 2009, the
Philadelphia 76ers hosted the
Chicago Bulls at their former home, the
Wachovia Spectrum, instead of their regular home, the
Wachovia Center. The Sixers left the Spectrum following the
1995–96 season to move to the former
John F. Kennedy Stadium site. • On March 15, 2009, the
Phoenix Suns scored the third-highest number of points in a regulation game—without overtime—in a 154–130 win against the
Golden State Warriors. They also scored 56 fast-break points, the highest recorded since the league began tracking the stat in 1997. The win also included two 40+ point quarters, 42 in the first and 46 in the third. • On March 21, 2009, Shaquille O'Neal moved from sixth all-time leading scorer to fifth, surpassing
Moses Malone.
April • On April 2, 2009, the NBA teamed up with
NRDC for the first-ever NBA Green Week 2009 in an effort to generate awareness and funds for protecting the environment. The week featured special on-court apparel, auctions to support environmental protection organizations, hands-on community service projects and the launch of a PSA featuring Hollywood icon and NRDC Trustee
Robert Redford. The Denver Nuggets, the Charlotte Bobcats, and the Chicago Bulls wore green-colored uniforms and socks made from 45 percent organic cotton during select home games throughout the week to raise additional environmental awareness. NBA partner adidas outfitted all players with 100 percent organic cotton adidas shooting shirts featuring the NBA Green logo, which were worn during every game that week. • On April 10, 2009, Kobe Bryant moved from the 18th all-time leading scorer to 17th, surpassing
Charles Barkley. • On April 15, 2009, the Cleveland Cavaliers finished the season with a home record of 39–2, just one game shy of matching the all-time record. • On April 15, 2009, Shaquille O'Neal led the league in field goal percentage for an NBA-record tenth time. • On April 23, 2009,
Dikembe Mutombo retired after 18 seasons in the NBA, at age 42. • On April 27, 2009, the
Denver Nuggets matched the largest margin of victory in an NBA playoff game by beating the
New Orleans Hornets 121–63, in Game 4 of the
2009 NBA playoffs. The record is shared with the
Minneapolis Lakers 133–75 victory over the
St. Louis Hawks in
1956. • On April 30, 2009, the
Chicago Bulls and the
Boston Celtics played in a record fourth overtime game in a single playoff series.
May • On May 9, 2009,
Hall of Fame head coach
Chuck Daly died of
pancreatic cancer at the age of 78. For the entire NBA Playoffs, all NBA coaches and commentators wore pins with the initials "CD" on their suits to honor the Hall of Fame coach. • On May 21, 2009,
Sam Cassell retired after 15 seasons in the NBA, at age 39. • On May 22, 2009,
World Wrestling Entertainment and the
Denver Nuggets were involved in a double-booking controversy, where WWE's
WWE Raw was supposed to be held at the
Pepsi Center on May 25. But Game 4 of the Western Conference Finals was also booked in the same venue on the same date. As a result, WWE decided to move the show, ironically, to the
Staples Center, the home of the Nuggets' conference finals opponents, the
Los Angeles Lakers.
June • On June 14, 2009, the
Los Angeles Lakers captured their 15th NBA title in franchise history with a 99–86 victory over the
Orlando Magic in Game 5 of the
2009 NBA Finals. This also marked the tenth NBA Title for head coach
Phil Jackson. In winning his tenth title, he passed
Red Auerbach to obtain the crown of most titles for an NBA head coach. ==Records broken==