McDonald's Championship

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For the LPGA Tour golf tournament, see McDonald's Championship (golf).
McDonald's Championship
McDonald’s Championship logo.png
SportBasketball
Founded1987
Ceased1999
No. of teams6
CountryWorldwide
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 club 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 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).

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.

History[]

Names of the competition[]

  • McDonald's Open: 1987–1993
  • McDonald's Championship: 1995–1999

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.

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[]

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

Results[]

Year Final Third place game
Champion Score Second place Third Fourth
1987
Details 		United States
Milwaukee Bucks 		League Soviet Union
Soviet Union 		Italy
Tracer Milano 		N/A
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[]

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

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 [a] 0 2 0 1
Italy Virtus Bologna [b] 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 [c] 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 [d] 0 0 0 2
France Racing Paris 0 0 0 1
Italy Varese [e] 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 Time.
  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".

External links[]

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