February 17, 2001: The Longest Shot In NBA History

February 17, 2001: The Charlotte Hornets play the Milwaukee Bucks at the Bradley Center in Milwaukee. At the end of the 3rd quarter, Baron Davis of the Hornets grabs a defensive rebound, and hurls the ball toward the other basket.

Such shots almost never go in, and they're not expected to, but you gotta try, just in case. This time, "just in case" happened: The ball went through the hoop. It gave the Hornets a 86-79 lead.

It was measured at 89 feet. It's believed to be the longest shot in NBA history. It surpassed an 87-foot shot that Earvin "Magic" Johnson made in 1987. The Hornets went on to beat the Bucks, 103-93. Davis finished with 21 points, and his teammate Jamal Mashburn led the game with 32.

Baron Walter Louis Davis -- his full real name -- was a Los Angeles native, then 31 years old. A point guard, he made the NBA All-Star Game twice. He was known for his defense, twice leading the league in steals per game. But he was not known as a good shooter from distance: His career shooting average from 3-point range was .320, compared to .409 from closer. However, he is the one who set this record. As of February 17, 2022, he still holds it.

On February 7, 1985, Bruce Morris of Marshall University closed the 1st half of a game with Appalachian State with a shot that was measured at 89 feet, 5 inches. It is recognized as the longest shot in college basketball history. Marshall won the game, 93-82. Morris never played in the NBA.

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February 7, 2001 was a Wednesday. Baseball and football were out of season. These 5 other NBA games were played that day:

* The Chicago Bulls beat the Miami Heat, 89-82 at the United Center in Chicago.

* The Dallas Mavericks beat the Washington Wizards, 112-105 at the Reunion Arena in Dallas.

* The Houston Rockets beat the Cleveland Cavaliers, 92-80 at The Summit in Houston. (Now the Central Campus of the Lakewood Church, Dr. Joel Osteen's "megachurch.") Steve Francis led all scorers on the night, with 35 points.

* The Boston Celtics beat the Portland Trail Blazers, 85-81 at the Rose Garden (now the Moda Center) in Portland.

* And the Atlanta Hawks beat the Seattle SuperSonics, 101-94 at the KeyArena in Seattle.

And there were 7 games played in the NHL:

* The New York Rangers beat the Tampa Bay Lightning, 5-4 at the Ice Palace (now the Benchmark International Arena) in Tampa.

* The New Jersey Devils lost to the Buffalo Sabres, 5-1 at HSBC Arena (now the KeyBank Center) in Buffalo.

* The Washington Capitals beat the Montreal Canadiens, 6-3 at the Molson Centre (now the Bell Centre) in Montreal. 

* The Philadelphia Flyers beat the Atlanta Thrashers, 5-1 at the Philips Arena (now the State Farm Arena) in Atlanta.

* The Toronto Maple Leafs and the Colorado Avalanche played to a tie, 5-5 at the Air Canada Centre (now the Scotiabank Arena) in Toronto.

* The Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Columbus Blue Jackets, 3-2 at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus. Alexei Kovalev scored the winning goal, 1:19 into overtime.

* And the Vancouver Canucks beat the Edmonton Oilers, 6-5 at the Skyreach Centre (as the Northlands Coliseum was then known) in Edmonton. Brendan Morrison scored the winning goal, 58 seconds into overtime.