McDonald's Championship

The McDonald's Championship (sometimes called the McDonald's Open) was an international men's professional basketball club cup competition that featured a representative of the National Basketball Association (representing North America) against champion club teams from Europe, the National Basketball League (representing Oceania), and South America. The competition was launched as McDonald's Open in 1987 with FIBA sanctioning the event and it was renamed to McDonald's Championship in 1995. FIBA EuroLeague champions participated in the competition from its third edition in 1989, while NBA champions would join from 1995 and onwards.

McDonald's Championship
SportBasketball
Founded1987
Ceased1999
No. of teams6
CountryInternational
Last
champion(s)
United States San Antonio Spurs (1st title)
Most titlesUnited States 9 NBA teams (1 title each)

McDonald's Open received a lot of media and fan attention and it was held annually from 1987 until 1991. Although it was a weekend-long late-October preseason event, both FIBA and the NBA officially accepted it as a Championship. It was not held in 1992, 1994 and 1996 due to the participation of the NBA-bound Dream Teams in the Olympics and the FIBA World Cup, and also in 1998 because of the NBA lock-out.
The all-time scorer of the competition is Bob McAdoo with 158 points in two editions with Olimpia Milano, while Toni Kukoc is the tournament’s all-time leader in assists.

History

The first competition was held in 1987 and continued annually after that until 1991, when the tournament switched to a biennial event. For the first two years, the men's national teams from Yugoslavia and the Soviet Union participated.[1]
In each of the nine years the McDonald's Championship was held, the title was won by a team from the NBA, but twice by a close margin. The first time was in the semifinals in 1990, when the New York Knicks trailed Italian club Scavolini Pesaro by three points (107–104) with only 30 seconds on the clock. After successfully defending, the Knicks won possession and Gerald Wilkins netted a three-pointer with eight seconds remaining to send the game into overtime. The other close game came the following year in 1991, when the Los Angeles Lakers defeated Spanish champions Montigalà Joventut by just two points (116–114). Virtus Bologna played in the final in 1993 and 1995 losing both times to NBA teams, and alongside KK Split were the only teams to finish runners-up twice. In 1997 Atenas Cordoba was invited as South American champions for the first time in the history of the McDonald's Open.
In 1999, the FIBA Asia basketball club champions, Sagesse Club, participated in the McDonald's Championship, the first and only time Asia was represented in the tournament.
The McDonald's Championship was discontinued after 1999 following the 2000 FIBA–EuroLeague dispute which forced FIBA to ultimately lose control of its top-tier European club competition.

NBA Champions Chicago Bulls won the 1997 McDonald's edition led by head coach Phil Jackson and topscorer Michael Jordan.

Many famous NBA American players like Michael Jordan, Bob McAdoo, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Clyde Drexler, Sam Cassell, Hakeem Olajuwon, Kevin Johnson, Robert Parish, Charles Barley, Tim Duncan, Patrick Ewing featured in the competition. Other non-American players were Sarunas Marciulionis, Toni Kukoc, Arvydas Sabonis, Predrag Danilovic, Drazen Petrovic, Zarko Paspalj, Fabricio Oberto, Héctor Campana, Arturas Karnisovas, Dino Meneghin, Jordi Villacampa, Alexander Volkov and Riccardo Pittis.

Media coverage

In the United States, ABC[2] held the network television rights from 1987-1989.[3] Gary Bender[4] and Dick Vitale[5] provided the commentary for ABC's broadcasts. Supplemental coverage was provided by TBS.[6][7]
Beginning in 1990, American network TV coverage[8] moved over to NBC.[9][10] NBC would continue to broadcast the finals of the McDonald's Championship through 1997.[11]
TNT[12] exclusively covered the final McDonald's Championship event in 1999.[13] Marv Albert,[14] Doug Collins, and Hubie Brown[15] were the commentators for TNT in 1999.

Legacy

McDonald's Open served as a stepping stone for what happened in 1989, when the FIBA Congress dropped the word "Amateur" from its name. FIBA Secretary General Borislav Stankovic and David Stern (NBA Commissioner from 1984 to 2014), believed that basketball everywhere would benefit if the best players from all countries competed against each other. In 1989, two years after the first McDonald's Open, the Federation Internationale de Basketball Amateur became the Federation Internationale de Basketball, and in 1992 in Barcelona, NBA players made up the USA Olympic squad and was famously dubbed Dream Team.

Format

After the first tournament (3 teams championship format), the competition was played in a single elimination format, with the winners of each match advancing to the next round.

Rules

Jump ball in the 1997 McDonald's Open final between Olympiakos and the Chicago Bulls

The competition combined rules of both the NBA and the European leagues (FIBA rules).[16][17]

Results

Year Final Third place game
Champions Score Runners-up Third Fourth
1987
Details
United States
Milwaukee Bucks
127-100 Soviet Union
Soviet Union
Italy
Tracer Milano
1988
Details
United States
Boston Celtics
111–96 Spain
Real Madrid
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia
Italy
Scavolini Pesaro
1989
Details
United States
Denver Nuggets
135–129 Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
Jugoplastika
Italy
Philips Milano
Spain
FC Barcelona Banca Catalana
1990
Details
United States
New York Knicks
117–101 Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
POP 84
Spain
FC Barcelona Banca Catalana
Italy
Scavolini Pesaro
1991
Details
United States
Los Angeles Lakers
116–114 Spain
Montigalà Joventut
France
Limoges CSP
Croatia
Slobodna Dalmacija
1993
Details
United States
Phoenix Suns
112–90 Italy
Buckler Beer Bologna
Spain
Real Madrid Teka
France
Limoges CSP
1995
Details
United States
Houston Rockets
126–112 Italy
Buckler Beer Bologna
Australia
Perth Wildcats
Spain
Real Madrid Teka
1997
Details
United States
Chicago Bulls
104–78 Greece
Olympiacos
Argentina
Atenas
France
PSG Racing
1999
Details
United States
San Antonio Spurs
103–68 Brazil
Vasco da Gama
Lithuania
Žalgiris
Italy
Varese Roosters

MVPs

The NBA’s teams dominated the competition and won all 9 tournaments with their stars picking up all the MVP awards. The award was named after Drazen Petrovic who lost his life in 1993.

Larry Bird was the McDonald's Championship MVP in 1988 with Boston Celtics.
Year Player Team
1987 United States Terry Cummings United States Milwaukee Bucks
1988 United States Larry Bird United States Boston Celtics
1989 United States Walter Davis United States Denver Nuggets
1990 United States Patrick Ewing United States New York Knicks
1991 United States Magic Johnson United States Los Angeles Lakers
1993 United States Charles Barkley United States Phoenix Suns
1995 United States Clyde Drexler United States Houston Rockets
1997 United States Michael Jordan United States Chicago Bulls
1999 United States Tim Duncan United States San Antonio Spurs

Topscorers

Only three NBA players won the award: Michael Jordan, Patrick Ewing and Larry Bird.

Bob McAdoo was the McDonald's Championship Top Scorer in 1987 and 1989 with Tracer Milano. He is also the all-time scorer in the history of the competition
Year Player Team
1987 United States Bob McAdoo Italy Tracer Milano
1988 United States Larry Bird
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Dražen Petrović
United States Boston Celtics
Spain Real Madrid
1989 United States Bob McAdoo (2) Italy Tracer Milano
1990 United States Patrick Ewing United States New York Knicks
1991 Spain Jordi Villacampa Spain Badalona
1993 United States Joe Arlauckas Spain Real Madrid
1995 United States Orlando Woolridge Italy Virtus Bologna
1997 United States Michael Jordan United States Chicago Bulls
1999 United States Charles Byrd Brazil Vasco da Gama

Finishes

Top 4 finishes by team

Team Champions Runners-up Third place Fourth place
United States Boston Celtics 1 0 0 0
United States Chicago Bulls 1 0 0 0
United States Denver Nuggets 1 0 0 0
United States Houston Rockets 1 0 0 0
United States Los Angeles Lakers 1 0 0 0
United States Milwaukee Bucks 1 0 0 0
United States New York Knicks 1 0 0 0
United States Phoenix Suns 1 0 0 0
United States San Antonio Spurs 1 0 0 0
Croatia Split [lower-alpha 1] 0 2 0 1
Italy Virtus Bologna [lower-alpha 2] 0 2 0 0
Spain Real Madrid 0 1 1 1
Spain Joventut Badalona 0 1 0 0
Greece Olympiacos 0 1 0 0
Soviet Union Soviet Union 0 1 0 0
Brazil Vasco da Gama 0 1 0 0
Italy Olimpia Milano [lower-alpha 3] 0 0 2 0
Spain FC Barcelona 0 0 1 1
France Limoges CSP 0 0 1 1
Argentina Atenas 0 0 1 0
Australia Perth Wildcats 0 0 1 0
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Yugoslavia 0 0 1 0
Lithuania Žalgiris 0 0 1 0
Italy Victoria Libertas [lower-alpha 4] 0 0 0 2
France Racing Paris 0 0 0 1
Italy Varese [lower-alpha 5] 0 0 0 1

Top 4 finishes by country

Country Champions Runners-up Third place Fourth place
United States United States 9 0 0 0
Italy Italy 0 2 2 3
Spain Spain 0 2 2 2
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Yugoslavia 0 2 1 0
Brazil Brazil 0 1 0 0
Greece Greece 0 1 0 0
Soviet Union Soviet Union 0 1 0 0
France France 0 0 1 2
Argentina Argentina 0 0 1 0
Australia Australia 0 0 1 0
Lithuania Lithuania 0 0 1 0
Croatia Croatia 0 0 0 1

See also

Notes

  1. Playing under the name of Jugoplastika, POP 84 and Slobodna Dalmacija due to sponsorship reasons.
  2. Playing under the name of Buckler Beer Bologna due to sponsorship reasons.
  3. Playing under the name of Tracer Milano and Philips Milano due to sponsorship reasons.
  4. Playing under the name of Scavolini Pesaro due to sponsorship reasons.
  5. Playing under the name of Varese Roosters due to sponsorship reasons.

References

  1. "A-d-c – Información actualizada de todos los deportes". Archived from the original on 2009-03-24.
  2. Keteyian, Araton, Dardis, Armen, Harvey, Martin F. (1998). Money Players: Inside the New NBA. p. 183. ISBN 9780671568108.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  3. Stewart, Larry (November 10, 1989). "NBC Gets NBA for Four Years, $600 Million". Los Angeles Times.
  4. Stewart, Larry (October 21, 1988). "Garagiola Comes Up With a Good Call on Parker in Last Game". Los Angeles Times.
  5. McCallum, Jack (November 2, 1987). "IN YOUR FACE, COMRADES!". Sports Illustrated.
  6. Sarni, Jim (July 22, 1988). "L.A., BOSTON GET THE AIR; HEAT WILL BE SHOWN ONCE". Sun-Sentinel.
  7. Croatto, Pete (December 2020). From Hang Time to Prime Time: Business, Entertainment, and the Birth of the ... p. 284. ISBN 9781982103958.
  8. Herbert, Steven (October 13, 1990). "SPORTS ON WEEKEND TV". Los Angeles Times.
  9. Herbert, Steven (October 31, 1990). "Enberg to Do NBA Play-by-Play". Los Angeles Times.
  10. Winderman, Ira (September 23, 1990). "HEAT WILL BE SCOUTED BY A NEW EXPANSION TEAM: NBC". Sun-Sentinel.
  11. "Bulls, Lakers Among Treats With Openers on Halloween". Los Angeles Times. July 23, 1997.
  12. "1999-00 NBA on Turner Sports". WOnline, Wizards Online.
  13. "AROUND & ABOUT". The Buffalo News. October 15, 1999.
  14. "1999 McDonalds Open: San Antonio Spurs v Varese". Getty Images. October 15, 1999.
  15. "BOSNIAN SERB WITH NBA SHOT AWAITS REINVENTION IN U.S." The Washington Post.
  16. SPORTS PEOPLE: PRO BASKETBALL; Nuggets in Rome Meet – The New York Times (July 5, 1989) (retrieved on September 6, 2006)
  17. "Bulls win another championship; beat Greeks in McDonald's final". Associated Press.

Sources

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