History

NBA Birthdays: Players born on July 20

With a player born on each day, our birthday series continues with the NBA players born on July 20.

Joel Bartilotta, Rotowire.com

September 22, 2025 2:28 PM

Ray Allen is among players born on July 20.

With over 5,000 players in NBA history, at least one player was born on every day of the calendar year – including four 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 July 20.

Ray Allen (1975)

One of the greatest pure shooters of all time, Allen was selected fifth overall in the 1996 NBA Draft by the Minnesota Timberwolves. A draft-day trade sent him to the Milwaukee Bucks where he would spend his first seven seasons. Allen made three straight All-Star appearances in his final three years with the Bucks and finished 11th in MVP voting in 2001. That inspired the Seattle SuperSonics to acquire him, with Allen spending the next five years there.

He went on to make seven more All-Star appearances over the next eight seasons, making those final three with the Boston Celtics. That trade to Boston led to his first title in 2008, and he grabbed one more with the Miami Heat in 2013. His three-point shooting was the most prolific part of his game, as he held the all-time record for most three-pointers made before Stephen Curry broke it in 2021. Allen was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2018, averaging 18.9 points, 4.1 rebounds, 3.4 assists, 1.1 steals and 2.3 threes per game throughout his 18-year career. Allen was also the star of one of the greatest basketball films ever made (He Got Game), showing his range extended to the silver screen.

Mel Daniels (1944)

Daniels notched a stellar nine-year career in the NBA. He kickstarted his career in the ABA, taking down Rookie of the Year in his debut season with the Minnesota Muskies. He also finished third in MVP voting that year while leading the league with 15.6 rebounds per game. That’s why the Indiana Pacers acquired him the following year, averaging a career-high 24 points and 16.5 rebounds en route to an MVP award. Daniels followed that up by finishing third in MVP voting the following year, but then took down another MVP award in 1971. He actually led the league in rebounds in three of his first four seasons. Daniels went on to make seven All-Star appearances in total, averaging 18.4 points and 14.9 rebounds per game throughout his nine-year career. He is also the all-time leader with 10.4 defensive rebounds per game across his stints in the ABA and NBA, and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2012.

Want to see every NBA player born on July 20? Here is the rest of the list in chronological order: