McDonald's Championship
| Sport | Basketball |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1987 |
| Ceased | 1999 |
| No. of teams | 8 |
| Country | Worldwide |
| Last champion(s) |
 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 Montigalà Joventut by just two points (116–114).
In 1999 the FIBA Asia basketball club champions, Sagesse Club went to participate in the Mcdonald's Championship, it was the first and only time Asia was represented in the tournament.
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 |
Milwaukee Bucks |
League |  Soviet Union |
 Tracer Milano |
– | ||
| 1988 Details |
Boston Celtics |
111–96 |  Real Madrid |
 Yugoslavia |
Scavolini Pesaro | ||
| 1989 Details |
Denver Nuggets |
135–129 | Jugoplastika |
Philips Milano |
FC Barcelona | ||
| 1990 Details |
New York Knicks |
117–101 | Pop 84 |
FC Barcelona |
Scavolini Pesaro | ||
| 1991 Details |
Los Angeles Lakers |
116–114 | Montigalà Joventut |
 Limoges |
 Slobodna Dalmacija | ||
| 1993 Details |
Phoenix Suns |
112–90 | Buckler Bologna |
Real Madrid |
Limoges | ||
| 1995 Details |
Houston Rockets |
126–112 | Buckler Bologna |
 Perth Wildcats |
Real Madrid | ||
| 1997 Details |
Chicago Bulls |
104–78 |  Olympiacos |
 Atenas |
PSG Racing | ||
| 1999 Details |
San Antonio Spurs |
103–68 |  Vasco da Gama |
.svg.png){kind=small} Žalgiris |
Varese Roosters | ||
MVPs
Top 4 finishes by team
| Team | Champions | Runners-up | Third place | Fourth place |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boston Celtics |
1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Chicago Bulls |
1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Denver Nuggets |
1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Houston Rockets |
1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Los Angeles Lakers |
1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Milwaukee Bucks |
1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| New York Knicks |
1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Phoenix Suns |
1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| San Antonio Spurs |
1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Split [lower-alpha 1] |
0 | 2 | 0 | 1 |
| Virtus Bologna [lower-alpha 2] |
0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Real Madrid |
0 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Joventut Badalona |
0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Olympiacos |
0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Soviet Union |
0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Vasco da Gama |
0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Olimpia Milano [lower-alpha 3] |
0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| FC Barcelona |
0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Limoges |
0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Atenas |
0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Perth Wildcats |
0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Yugoslavia |
0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
 Žalgiris |
0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Victoria Libertas [lower-alpha 4] |
0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Racing Paris |
0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Varese [lower-alpha 5] |
0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
Top 4 finishes by country
| Country | Champions | Runners-up | Third place | Fourth place |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States |
9 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Italy |
0 | 2 | 2 | 3 |
| Spain |
0 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Yugoslavia |
0 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| Brazil |
0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Greece |
0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Soviet Union |
0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| France |
0 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Argentina |
0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Australia |
0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Lithuania |
0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Croatia |
0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
See also
- NBA Global Games
- NBA Canada Series
- List of games played between NBA and international teams
- NBA versus EuroLeague games
- EuroLeague American Tour
- Naismith Cup
Notes
- ↑ Playing under the name of Jugoplastika, Pop 84 and Slobodna Dalmacija due to sponsorship reasons.
- ↑ Playing under the name of Buckler Bologna due to sponsorship reasons.
- ↑ Playing under the name of Tracer Milano and Philips Milano due to sponsorship reasons.
- ↑ Playing under the name of Scavolini Pesaro due to sponsorship reasons.
- ↑ Playing under the name of Varese Roosters due to sponsorship reasons.
References
- ↑ SPORTS PEOPLE: PRO BASKETBALL; Nuggets in Rome Meet – The New York Times (July 5, 1989) (retrieved on September 6, 2006)