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 June 14.
Sam Perkins (1961)
An incredible collegiate career paved the way for Perkins to be an NBA lifer. “Big Smooth” was a three-time All-American in his three years at UNC, helping them win a title in 1982. That’s why he was the fourth overall pick in the 1984 NBA Draft, assisting Team USA win gold at the Olympics that year. The Dallas Mavericks selected him with the fourth overall selection, with Perkins spending his first six seasons with the Mavs.
Perkins joined the Los Angeles Lakers in 1990 and averaged a career-high 16.5 points along with 8.8 rebounds, 2.2 assists, 1.0 steals and 1.0 blocks the following year. That was his last full season in LA, spending the next six years with the Seattle SuperSonics after a mid-season trade. Perkins finished fifth in Sixth Man of the Year voting with them in 1997 and then played his final three seasons with the Indiana Pacers before officially retiring in 2001. The big man averaged 11.9 ppg, 6.0 rpg, 1.5 apg, 0.9 spg and 0.7 bpg throughout his 17-year career.
RJ Barrett (2000)
There’s been a Canadian renaissance in the NBA over recent years, and Barrett is one of the major reasons why. This lefty was a stud at Duke University before being drafted third overall in the 2019 NBA Draft by the New York Knicks. Barrett finished eighth in Rookie of the Year voting in his debut campaign, playing his first four and a half years with the Knicks. During that time in NY, Barrett averaged 18.1 points, 5.3 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game. He was traded to the Toronto Raptors in 2023 and has been there ever since. “Maple Mamba” posted a career-high 21.1 ppg, 6.3 rpg and 5.4 assists in his first full season with the Raps in 2024-25.
Want to see every NBA player born on June 14? Here is the rest of the list in chronological order:
- Jerry Kelly (1918)
- Charlie Paulk (1946)
- Gil McGregor (1949)
- Keith Herron (1956)
- Sam Perkins (1961)
- Dan Godfread (1967)
- Tony Smith (1968)
- Eric Murdock (1968)
- Bruce Bowen (1971)
- Rick Brunson (1972)
- Cory Higgins (1989)
- Gabe Vincent (1996)
- Justin Patton (1997)
- Freddie Gillespie (1997)
- Branden Carlson (1999)
- Leaky Black (1999)
- Paul Reed (1999)
- RJ Barrett (2000)
- Spencer Jones (2001)
