NBA Birthdays: Celebrating Players Born on September 18th

With more than 5,000 players in NBA history, there is at least one player born on every day of the calendar year – including three leap-day ballers. Our detailed breakdown of NBA players born on each day of the year continues.

Below are the most notable NBA players born on Sept 18. 

Dennis Johnson (Sept. 18, 1954)

: During his 14-year career with the Seattle SuperSonics, the Phoenix Suns and the Boston Celtics,

Johnson established himself

as one of the NBA’s best defensive guards. Drafted by Seattle with the 29th pick in the 1976 NBA Draft, DJ led the Sonics to their only NBA title in 1979, earning Finals MVP honors. After splitting the first half of his career between Seattle (1976-1980) and Phoenix (1980-1983), Johnson closed his career with a seven-year run in Boston (1983-1990), helping the Celtics win championships in 1984 and 1986. A five-time All-Star and nine-time All-Defensive Team selection, Johnson tallied 15,535 points (14.1 ppg), 5,499 assists (5.0 apg) and 1,477 steals (1.3 spg) over 1100 career games. He was enshrined in the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame posthumously in 2010.

Toni Kukoc (Sept. 18, 1968)

: Selected by the Chicago Bulls with the 29th overall pick in the 1990 NBA Draft, the Croatian forward continued to play in Europe until 1993, winning three EuroLeague championships (1989-1991), three EuroLeague Final Four MVPs (1990, 1991, 1993) and being named European Player of the Year five times. Kukoc was a key member of the Bulls’ second three-peat – winning championships in 1997, 1997 and 1998, while also earning Sixth Man of the Year honors in 1996 – thanks to his unique combination of size, skill, playmaking and scoring. After playing the first half of his 13-year NBA career in Chicago, Kukoc played with the Sixers, Hawks and Bucks before retiring in 2006 with 9,810 points (11.6 ppg), 3,555 rebounds (4.2 rpg) and 3,119 assists (3.7 apg) over 609 career games. In 2021,

Kukoc was inducted

into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

Want to see every NBA player born on Sept. 18?

Here is the rest of the list in chronological order:

(Sept. 18, 1917)

(Sept. 18, 1923)

(Sept. 18, 1923)

(Sept. 18, 1923)

(Sept. 18, 1963)

(Sept. 18, 1984)

(Sept. 18, 1989)

(Sept. 18, 2000)

(Sept. 18, 2001)