Sport Basketball Ceased 1999 Country Worldwide Number of teams 8 | Founded 1987 No. of teams 8 | |
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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.
Contents
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.
Mcdonald s championship 1991 final la lakers vs joventut badalona highlights
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).