Today in sports history: June 23 - Kiwi Sean Marks captures NBA crown with San Antonio Spurs

San Antonio Spurs celebrate their 2005 NBA title
San Antonio Spurs celebrate their 2005 NBA title. Photo credit: Reuters.

Some stories of the past that led sporting headlines around the world on June 23.

1894

The International Olympic Committee is formed at the Sorbonne, Paris, with Baron Pierre de Coubertin at the helm and the goal of promoting participation in sport, regardless of age, gender or athletic ability.

Today, June 23 is known as International Olympic Day, first introduced in 1948.

1917

Baseball superstar Babe Ruth is ejected from a game for throwing a punch at the umpire.

Ernie Shore replaced Ruth on the pitching mound and retired all 26 batters in a 4-0 win over Washing Senators. The performance was recognised as a combined no-hitter.

1922

Walter Hagen becomes the first American-born winner of the British Open Championship edging Jim Barnes and George Duncan by one stroke.

Hagen would take the crown three more times and captured 11 Major titles over his career, including five PGA Championships.

1932 

New York Yankees first baseman Lou Gehrig plays his 1103rd consecutive game, equalling the record for the most with one team.

By the end of his career, Gehrig, known as 'The Iron Horse', extended the record to 2130 straight appearances.

That benchmark stood for 56 years and was considered unbreakable, until Baltimore Orioles infielder Cal Ripken Jnr surpassed it in 1995 and stretched it to 2632.

Gehrig's streak ended when he took himself out of the line-up, as he began to suffer the effects of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, which became known as Gehrig's Disease. It eventually forced him to retire at the age of 36 and he died two years later.

1963

New York Mets centrefielder Jimmy Piersall circles the bases backwards, after hitting his 100th home run against Philadelphia Phillies.

1979

West Indies beat England by 92 runs to take out the second Cricket World Cup at Lord's.

Batting first, Viv Richards scored 138 runs from 157 balls, ably supported by Collis King (86 from 66) in the Windies' 286/9 in their 60 overs.

Vic Richards hits out at the Cricket World Cup
Vic Richards hits out at the Cricket World Cup. Photo credit: Getty

In reply, England openers Geoff Boycott (57 from 105 balls) and Mike Brearley (64 from 130) both scored slowly, putting their teammates under pressure further down the batting order.

When Graham Gooch was dismissed at 183/2, England suffered a horror collapse, losing eight wickets for 11 runs.

England had earlier eliminated New Zealand in the semifinals, with Glenn Turner emerging as one of the tournament's top runscorers and Brian McKechnie among the top wicket-takers. 

1981

Pawtucket Red Sox win the longest game in professional baseball history, defeating Rochester Red Wings 3-2 in 33 innings.

The Triple-A International League match-up began at 8:25pm on April 18 and ran into the earlier hours of the next morning, before play was abandoned at 2-2 in the 32nd inning.

The fixture was reconvened more than two months later, next time the Red Wings visited Pawtucket, with the home side scoring the winner after just 18 additional minutes.

2005

Sean Marks becomes the first - and so far only - Kiwi to claim an NBA title, when San Antonio Spurs beat Detroit Pistons 4-3.

Detroit were defending champions, but the Spurs held homecourt advantage with a 59-23 regular season record.

The series went with home advantage, until San Antonio took Game Five in Detroit and then the Pistons prevailed in San Antonio to force a decider.

Spurs forward Tim Duncan led all scorer with 25 points and 11 rebounds, and was subsequently named Most Valuable Player.

Marks did not take the court during the series, but would go on to win another ring as Spurs assistant coach in 2014 and is currently general manager of Brooklyn Nets. 

Ben Simmons in action for Philadelphia 76ers
Ben Simmons in action for Philadelphia 76ers. Photo credit: Reuters.

2016

Philadelphia 76ers select Aussie Ben Simmons with the first pick of the NBA draft.

Simmons' arrival was part of a rebuilding project known as 'The Process', which saw him play his rookie season alongside centre Joel Embiid, who was drafted two years earlier, but sat out with injuries.  

The pair are still part of the Sixers roster, but fell one game - and a Kawhi Leonard three-pointer - short of last year's NBA finals.

Births

1932 - Former Blackcaps fast bowler Bob Blair

1940 - Olympic sprint champion Wilma Rudolph

1949 - Australian rugby commentator Gordon Bray

Filbert Bayi beats John Walker at the 1974 Commonwealth Games
Filbert Bayi beats John Walker at the 1974 Commonwealth Games. Photo credit: Getty

1953 - Tanzanian 1500m world recordholder Filbert Bayi

1963 - Scottish golfer Colin Montgomerie

1972 - French football legend Zinedine Zidane

Deaths

1969 - American basketballer & shoe salesman Charles 'Chuck' Taylor, aged 67

1995 - Russian ice hockey coach Anatoly Tarasov, aged 76

Newshub 12 months ago...

Former teammates turn on 'sickening' Israel Folau over GoFundMe

Some of Israel Folau's former teammates have added their voices to the growing chorus of disapproval over the banned Wallabies star's controversial GoFundMe plea.

On Thursday, Folau launched a page on the popular crowd-funding website in a bid to cover legal costs for his upcoming courtroom battle with Rugby Australia - a move that has been widely condemned as unethical and morally questionable.

Israel Folau in action for the Wallabies
Israel Folau in action for the Wallabies. Photo credit: AAP

In two days, Folau has already raised AU$504,000 (NZ$530,000) of his AU$3m (NZ$3.15m) target from the public, despite owning a multi-million dollar property portfolio.

Former Waratahs teammate Stephen Hoiles labelled Folau's public pledge "sickening", when contrasted with what he calls much worthier causes on the website, which is often the domain for struggling families to fundraise for medical costs.