Runners-up Tau Cerámica Finals MVP Manu Ginóbili Points Gregor Fučka
19.7 Teams 24 | Regular Season MVP Dejan Tomašević PIR Gregor Fučka
25.2 Dates 16 Oct 2000 – 10 May 2001 | |
Champions Kinder Bologna (2nd title) Champion Virtus Pallacanestro Bologna Similar 2001–02 Euroleague, 2002–03 Euroleague, 2003–04 Euroleague, 2006–07 Euroleague, 2009–10 Euroleague | ||
The 2000–01 Euroleague was the inaugural season of EuroLeague, under the new Euroleague Basketball Company's authority, and it was the 44th season of the premier competition for European men's basketball clubs overall. It started on October 16, 2000, with a regular season game between hosts Real Madrid and Olympiacos, at the Raimundo Saporta Pavilion in Madrid, Spain, and ended with the championship finals game on May 10, 2001, at the PalaMalaguti arena in Bologna, Italy. This EuroLeague season did not feature all of the best European teams, as some of them opted to compete in the 2000–01 FIBA SuproLeague competition instead, after the row erupted between the previous EuroLeague governing body, FIBA, and the newly established Euroleague Basketball Company.
Contents
- European Champions Cup teams divided
- Regular season
- Top 16
- Quarterfinals
- Semifinals
- Finals
- Regular Season MVP
- Finals MVP
- All Euroleague First Team
- All Euroleague Second Team
- Two continental champions
- The current Euroleague is formed
- References
A total of 24 teams competed for the EuroLeague title, which was in the end won by Kinder Bologna. Dejan Tomašević was the Euroleague Regular Season MVP, and Manu Ginóbili was the Euroleague Finals MVP.
European Champions' Cup teams divided
The EuroLeague (or historically called, the FIBA European Champions' Cup) was originally established by FIBA, and it operated under its umbrella from 1958, until the summer of 2000, concluding with the 1999–2000 season. That was when Euroleague Basketball Company was created.
Amazingly, FIBA had never trademarked the "EuroLeague" name, and Euroleague Basketball simply used it without any legal ramifications, because FIBA had no legal recourse to do anything about it, so they had to find a new name for their league. Thus, the following 2000–01 season started with 2 separate top European professional club basketball competitions: the FIBA SuproLeague (previously known as the FIBA EuroLeague) and the brand new 2000–01 Euroleague season.
The rift in European professional club basketball initially showed no signs of letting up. Top clubs were also split between the two leagues: Panathinaikos, Maccabi Tel Aviv, CSKA Moscow, and Efes Pilsen stayed with FIBA, while Olympiacos, Kinder Bologna, Real Madrid, FC Barcelona, Tau Cerámica, and Benetton Treviso joined Euroleague Basketball.
Regular season
The first phase was a regular season, in which the competing teams were drawn into four groups, each containing six teams. Each team played every other team in its group at home and away, resulting in 10 games for each team in the first stage. The top 4 teams in each group advanced to the next round, The Top 16. The complete list of tiebreakers is provided in the lead-in to the Regular Season results.
If one or more clubs were level on won-lost record, tiebreakers were applied in the following order:
- Head-to-head record in matches between the tied clubs
- Overall point difference in games between the tied clubs
- Overall point difference in all group matches (first tiebreaker if tied clubs were not in the same group)
- Points scored in all group matches
- Sum of quotients of points scored and points allowed in each group match
Top 16
In a "Best of Three" series the remaining 16 teams were placed against each other. The games were held between the 31st of January and the 14th of February, 2001, with the top 8 teams advancing to the Playoffs.
Quarterfinals
In a "Best of Three" series the remaining 8 teams were placed against each other. The games were held between the 21st of February and the 7th of March, 2001, with the top 4 teams advancing to the Semi finals.
Semifinals
In a "Best of Five" series the remaining 4 teams were placed against each other. The games were held between the 27th of March and the 7th of April, 2001.
Finals
The culminating stage of the Euroleague season, the two remaining teams that won the semi final series played each other in a best of five series.
Regular Season MVP
Finals MVP
All-Euroleague First Team
All-Euroleague Second Team
Two continental champions
In May 2001, Europe had two continental champions, Maccabi Tel Aviv of the FIBA SuproLeague and Kinder Bologna of Euroleague Basketball Company's EuroLeague. The leaders of both organizations realized the need to come up with a new single competition. Negotiating from the position of strength, Euroleague Basketball Company dictated proceedings, and FIBA essentially had no choice but to agree to their terms. As a result, the EuroLeague was fully integrated under Euroleague Basketball Company's umbrella, and teams that competed in the FIBA SuproLeague during the 2000-01 season joined it as well. It is today officially admitted that European basketball had two champions that year, Maccabi of the FIBA SuproLeague and Kinder Bologna of the Euroleague Basketball Company's EuroLeague.
The current Euroleague is formed
A year later, Euroleague Basketball Company and FIBA decided that Euroleague Basketball's EuroLeague competition would be the main basketball tournament on the continent, to be played between the top level teams of Europe. FIBA Europe would also organize a European league for third-tier level teams, known as the FIBA Europe League competition, while Euroleague Basketball would also organize its own second-tier level league, combining FIBA's long-time Korać Cup and Saporta Cup competitions into one new competition, the EuroCup. In 2005, Euroleague Basketball and FIBA decided to cooperate with each other, and did so jointly until 2016.
In essence, the authority in European professional basketball was divided over club-country lines. FIBA stayed in charge of national team competitions (like the FIBA EuroBasket, the FIBA World Cup, and the Summer Olympics), while Euroleague Basketball took over the European professional club competitions. From that point on, FIBA's Korać Cup and Saporta Cup competitions lasted only one more season before folding, which was when Euroleague Basketball launched the EuroCup.