Events in Sport
- May 3 NHL Clarence Campbell Conference Final: Edmonton Oilers beat Chicago Black Hawks, 4 games to 0
- May 7 109th Kentucky Derby: Ed Delahoussaye wins aboard Sunny's Halo for consecutive Derby victories (1982 Gato Del Sol)
- May 7 NHL Prince of Wales Conference Final: New York Islanders beat Boston Bruins, 4 games to 2
- May 11 Aberdeen of Scotland win 23rd European Cup Winner's Cup against Real Madrid of Spain 2-1 in Gothenburg
Event of Interest
May 13 Reggie Jackson is 1st major leaguer to strike out 2,000 times
Reggie Jackson
- May 17 Stanley Cup Final, Nassau Coliseum, Uniondale, NY: 4 consecutive titles for NY Islanders; sweep Edmonton Oilers in 4 games with a 4-2 Game 4 win
Boxing Title Fight
May 20 American heavyweight boxer Larry Holmes beats countryman Tim Witherspoon by split decision to retain his WBC title at the Dunes Hotel & Casino, Las Vegas
Larry Holmes
Boxing Title Fight
May 20 Michael Dokes & Mike Weaver fight to a draw in 15 for heavyweight boxing title
Mike Weaver
- May 20 Phillies Steve Carlton passes W Johnson with 2nd most strike outs
- May 21 108th Preakness: Donald Miller Jr on Deputed Testamony wins in 1:55.4
- May 22 Toronto Blue Jay Cliff Johnson hits record 18th pinch hit HR
- May 25 Kirk Gibson (Tigers) & Jorge Orta (Blue Jays) hit inside park HRs
- May 25 27th European Cup: Hamburg beats Juventus 1-0 at Athens
- May 26 29th Walker Cup: US, 13½ - 10½
- May 26 LA Lakers set NBA playoff game record of fewest free throws
- May 29 Yuri Dumchev of USSR throws discus a record 71.86 m
- May 29 Indianapolis 500: Tom Sneva wins in 3:05:03.092 (260.902 km/h)
Event of Interest
May 30 AL President Lee MacPhail suspends Yankees owner George Steinbrenner for one week, for his public criticism of umpires
George Steinbrenner
- May 31 37th NBA Championship: Philadelphia 76ers sweep LA Lakers in 4 games
Birthdays in Sport
- May 1 Alain Bernard, French swimmer (100m freestyle gold 2008 Olympics), born in Aubagne, France
- May 3 Joseph Addai, American football player, born in Houston, Texas
- May 3 Romeo Castelen, Dutch footballer, born in Paramaribo, Suriname
- May 3 Márton Fülöp, Hungarian footballer and goalkeeper, born in Budapest (d. 2015)
- May 4 Derek Roy, Canadian ice hockey player, born in Rockland, Ontario
- May 5 Scott Ware, American footballer (Indianapolis Colts), born in Santa Rosa, California
- May 6 Dani Alves da Silva, Brazilian football player (Paris Saint-Germain, Brazil national team), born in Juazeiro, Brazil
- May 9 Tyler Lumsden, American baseball player
- May 9 Gilles Müller, Luxembourgian tennis player
- May 11 Frédéric Xhonneux, Belgian decathlete
- May 11 Matt Leinart, American football player
- May 12 Charilaos Pappas, Greek footballer
- May 13 Yaya Touré, Ivorian footballer
- May 16 Kyle Wellwood, Canadian ice hockey player
- May 17 Nicky Hofs, Dutch footballer
- May 17 Channing Frye, American basketball player
- May 17 Jeremy Sowers, American baseball player
- May 18 Gary O'Neil, English footballer
- May 18 Luis Terrero, Dominican baseball player
- May 18 Vince Young, American football player
- May 22 John Hopkins, Anglo-American motorcycling racer
- May 27 Bobby Convey, American soccer player
- May 28 Steve Cronin, American soccer goalkeeper
- May 28 Humberto Sanchez, Dominican baseball player
- May 31 Dustin Wells, New Zealand footballer
Deaths in Sport
Jack Dempsey
May 31 Jack Dempsey, American boxer (world heavyweight champion 1919-26), dies of heart failure at 86
Jack Dempsey