The McDonald's Championship
So, I was just looking at the NBA's Wikipedia page (because why not?) and I stumbled upon the McDonald's Championship, also sometimes called the McDonalds Open.
It was an international basketball cup competition that featured a representative of the NBA against champion clubs from Europe, Australia, South America and once a team from Asia.
The first edition was held in 1987 and it was held annually until 1991. After that it was held every 2 years. In total there were 9 editions of the McDonald's championship and each of them were won by the NBA team that participated that year. The last edition was in 1999.
The format:
In the inaugural tournament only 3 teams competed in a championship format. With more teams joining the competition in the following years, the format changed to a single elimination format with the winners progressing through to the next round.
Rules:
The competition combined rules of both the NBA and the FIBA.
Now we're going to look at the teams that competed in the tournament each year.
1987: For the first edition of the tournament the NBA team that competed in this tournament was the Milwaukee Bucks. The other teams were the Soviet Union National Team and Tracer Milano, from the Italian league.
Each team faced off once, with Milwaukee winning bot of their games and the Soviet Union National team winning 1 game, leaving Tracer Milano without a win.
Standings:
- Milwaukee Bucks
- Soviet Union NT
- Tracer Milano
1988: This year 4 teams competed. 3 from Europe and 1 from the NBA. The teams were Real Madrid from Spain, Scavolini Pesaro from Italy, the Yugoslavian National Team and the Boston Celtics.
Each team played twice. Boston won both of their games, and Real Madrid and the Yugoslavia NT split their games. Scavolini lost both of their games.
Standings:
- Boston Celtics
- Real Madrid
- Yugoslavia NT
- Scavolini Pesaro
1989: Once again there were 3 European teams and 1 NBA teams in the tournament. This time the participants were the Denver Nuggets, Spanish team FC Barcelona, Italian Philips Milano and Jugoplastika from Yugoslavia.
As you probably expect by now the Nuggets won both their games. Jugoplastika and Philips Milano both won and lost one and FC Barcelona lost both games.
Standings:
- Denver Nuggets
- Jugoplastika
- Philips Milano
- FC Barcelona
1990: This year two former participants returned to compete again. These teams were FC Barcelona and Scavolini Pesaro. The remaining two participants were Pop 84 from Yugoslavia and the New York Knicks from the NBA.
Although the NBA team again won both of their games the competition was pretty close. None of the games were decided by more than 16 points, and that was the final between the Knicks and Pop 84.
Standings:
- New York Knicks
- Pop 84
- FC Barcelona
- Scavolini Pesaro
1991:* In 1991 the 4 teams came from Croatia, Spain, France and the USA. The teams were Slobodna Dalmacija, Montigalà Joventut, Limoges and the Los Angeles Lakers.
The final between the Lakers and Montigalà was a really close game. The final score was 116-114 in favour of the Lakers. The rest of the tournament sadly wasn't as competitive.
Standings:
- Los Angeles Lakers
- Montigalà Joventut
- Limoges
- Slobodna Dalmacija
1993: The 1993 edition of the McDonald's Championship marked the first time a team from South America joined and competed. This team was All-Star Franca from Brasil. It also was the first time there were 6 teams in the tournament. The other teams were the Phoenix Suns, Real Madrid, Limoges, German team Bayer 04 Leverkusen and Buckler Bologna from Italy.
One interesting thing to note is the score between the Phoenix Suns and Real Madrid in the semi finals. The result was a 145-115 win for Phoenix. No team has ever scored more points.
Standings:
- Phoenix Suns
- Bucker Bologna
- Real Madrid
- Limoges
- All-Star Franca
- Bayer 04 Leverkusen.
1995: Another first for the McDonald's Championship, as the Perth Wildcats were the first team from Oceania to get involved in the tournament. Other teams were the English Sheffield Sharks, Israelian(?) Maccabi Elite, who were the first team from the Middle East, Spanish Real Madrid, Italian Buckler Bologna and the Houston Rockets.
Held in London, the English team sadly couldn't win a game and ended up in 6th place.
Standings:
- Houston Rockets
- Buckler Bologna
- Perth Wildcats
- Real Madrid
- Maccabi Elite
- Sheffield Sharks
1997: In 1997 the teams invited to play in the tournament were FC Barcelona, PSG Racing (France), Olympiacos (Greece) Benetton Treviso (Italy), Atenas (Argentina), and the Chicago Bulls.
With both teams in 5 of the 7 total games not reaching the 100 points, this was the lowest scoring tournament to date.
Standings:
- Chicago Bulls
- Olympiacos
- Atenas
- PSG Racing
- Benetton Treviso
- FC Barcelona.
1999: We've come to the last edition of the McDonald's Championship. It was the most diverse tournament with 2 teams from Europe (Lithuanian Zalgiris and Italian Varèse Roosters), 1 team from Asia (Lebanese Sagesse/Hekmeh Club), 1 team from North America (San Antonio Spurs), 1 team from Oceania (Australian Adelaide 36ers) and 1 team from South America (Brazilian Vasco Da Gama).
Not to be outdone by the previous edition of the tournament, this time 6 of the 7 games ended with both teams scoring under 100 points.
Standings:
- San Antonio Spurs
- Vasco Da Gama
- Zalgiris
- Valrèse Roosters 5 Adelaide 36ers
- Sagesse/Hekmeh Club
Lastly I want to give you the MVP's for every year
1987: Terry Cummings (Milwaukee) 1988: Larry Bird (Boston) 1989: Walter Davis (Denver Nuggets) 1990: Patrick Ewing (New York Knicks) 1991: Magic Johnson (Los Angeles Lakers) 1993: Charles Barkley (Phoenix Suns) 1995: Clyde Drexler (Houston Rockets) 1997: Michael Jordan (Chicago Bulls) 1999: Tim Duncan (San Antonio Spurs)
I hope you enjoyed.
Posted Jul 31, 2017, 2:59 PM UTC