Taj Gibson is among the players born on June 24.
With over 5,000 players in NBA history, at least one player was born on every day of the calendar year – including three leap day ballers. Our day-by-day breakdown of the players born on each day of the year continues.
Below are the most notable NBA players born on June 24.
Sam Jones (1933)
Jones kickstarted his decorated career as the eighth overall pick in the 1958 NBA Draft by the Boston Celtics. Landing in Beantown couldn’t have been a better opportunity, with Jones spending his full 12-year career with that organization. Things really took off for Jones in 1961, making his first of five All-Star appearances over the next eight seasons. He also finished Top 10 in MVP voting three times between 1963 and 1966.
His best season was in 1965, when Smith averaged a career-high 25.9 points, 5.1 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game. Most importantly, Jones helped the Celtics win 10 titles throughout his 12-year career. That’s the second-most rings in NBA history behind Bill Russell, with Jones averaging 17.7 points, 4.9 rebounds and 2.5 assists throughout his Hall of Fame career.
Larry Foust (1928)
Foust was the sixth overall pick in the 1950 NBA Draft out of LaSalle University. “Long” was one of the best big men in the league right out of the gates, making eight All-Star appearances through his first nine seasons. The first six of those were with the Fort Wayne Pistons, making two All-NBA teams during that span as well. The final two All-Star appearances were with the Minneapolis Lakers, spending just three years there in total.
Foust closed his career with three seasons in St. Louis before officially retiring in 1962. He also led the league in rebounds in 1952 while leading the league in field goal percentage in 1955. Foust was one of the best centers in the NBA throughout his 12-year career, averaging 13.7 points and 9.8 rebounds per game.
Want to see every NBA player born on June 24? Here is the rest of the list in chronological order:
- Art Heyman (June 24, 1941)
- Steve Patterson (June 24, 1948)
- Lancaster Gordon (June 24, 1962)
- Kannard Johnson (June 24, 1965)
- Les Jepsen (June 24, 1967)
- Alaa Abdelnaby (June 24, 1968)
- Daniel Santiago (June 24, 1976)
- J.J. Redick (June 24, 1984)
- Taj Gibson (June 24, 1985)
- David Stockton (June 24, 1991)
- Luke Kennard (June 24, 1996)
- Kevon Harris (June 24, 1997)
- Jamal Shead (June 24, 2002)
- Reed Sheppard (June 24, 2004)