McDonald's Championship

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McDonald's Championship
Sport Basketball
Founded 1987
Ceased 1999
No. of teams 8
Country Worldwide
Last champion(s) United States San Antonio Spurs

The McDonald's Championship (sometimes called the McDonald's Open) was an international men's professional basketball cup competition that featured a representative of the National Basketball Association against champion club teams from Europe, Australia, and South America. The first competition was held in 1987 and continued annually after that until 1991, when the tournament switched to a biannual event. For the first two years, the men's national teams from Yugoslavia and the Soviet Union participated.

The McDonald's Championship succeeded the FIBA Intercontinental Cup.

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 Joventut Badalona by just two points (116–114).

The McDonald's Championship was discontinued after 1999.

Format

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

Rules

The competition combined rules of both the NBA and the European leagues (FIBA rules).[1]

List of champions

Year Final Third and fourth place
Champion Score Second place
1987
Details
United States
Milwaukee Bucks
League Soviet Union
Soviet Union
Italy
Olimpia Milano (Tracer)
1988
Details
United States
Boston Celtics
111–96 Spain
Real Madrid
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia
Italy
Victoria Libertas Pesaro (Scavolini)
1989
Details
United States
Denver Nuggets
135–129 Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
Split (Jugoplastika)
Italy
Olimpia Milano (Philips)
Spain
FC Barcelona
1990
Details
United States
New York Knicks
117–101 Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
Split (Pop 84)
Spain
FC Barcelona
Italy
Victoria Libertas Pesaro (Scavolini)
1991
Details
United States
Los Angeles Lakers
116–114 Spain
Joventut Badalona (Montigalà)
France
Limoges
Croatia
Split (Slobodna Dalmacija)
1993
Details
United States
Phoenix Suns
112–90 Italy
Virtus Bologna (Buckler)
Spain
Real Madrid
France
Limoges
1995
Details
United States
Houston Rockets
126–112 Italy
Virtus Bologna (Buckler)
Australia
Perth Wildcats
Spain
Real Madrid
1997
Details
United States
Chicago Bulls
104–78 Greece
Olympiacos
Argentina
Atenas
France
Racing Paris
1999
Details
United States
San Antonio Spurs
103–68 Brazil
Vasco da Gama
Lithuania
Žalgiris
Italy
Varèse (Roosters)

MVPs

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

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 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 Pesaro[lower-alpha 4] 0 0 0 2
France Racing Paris 0 0 0 1
Italy Varèse[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 Split, Pop 84 Split and Slobodna Dalmacija Split due to sponsorship reasons.
  2. Playing under the name of Buckler 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 Varèse Roosters due to sponsorship reasons.

References

External links