1997 McDonald's Championship

Last updated

1997 McDonald's Championship
League McDonald's Championship
Sport Basketball
Duration16–18 October
Top scorer Flag of the United States.svg Michael Jordan
Finals champions Flag of the United States.svg Chicago Bulls
  Runners-up Flag of Greece.svg Olympiacos
Finals MVP Flag of the United States.svg Michael Jordan
McDonald's Championship seasons

The 1997 McDonald's Championship took place at Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy in Paris, France. The Chicago Bulls won the tournament and Michael Jordan was named the tournament MVP. [1]

Contents

Summary

Michael Jordan helped Champions Chicago Bulls win the 1997 McDonald's Championship. Jordan Lipofsky.jpg
Michael Jordan helped Champions Chicago Bulls win the 1997 McDonald's Championship.

The teams that took part in the 8th edition of the tournament were the Chicago Bulls (USA), Paris Basket Racing (France), Olympiacos Piraeus (Greece), Atenas de Cordoba (Argentina), Benetton Treviso (Italy) and FC Barcelona (Spain). [2]

Surprisingly, both the Italian and Spanish champions, traditional European powerhouses Benetton and FC Barcelona, lost their preliminary stage games and were forced to battle for 5th place. The Chicago Bulls instead led by Michael Jordan, and without Scottie Pippen managed to win their semifinal game against the hosts PSG Racing coached by Božidar Maljković, by 89–82. In the final game Chicago Bulls faced European champions Olympiacos Piraeus. The Greek side coached by legendary Serbian coach Dušan Ivković proved stronger than PSG Racing, but the Bulls pulled the best of their abilities and cruised to an easy 104–78 win. [3]

The tournament was noted for having more than 1,000 journalists from 54 countries covering it, more than the previous NBA finals. [4] It was mentioned in an early episode of the documentary miniseries, The Last Dance.

Participants

Bracket

 
Preliminary roundSemi-finalsFinals
 
          
 
October 16
 
 
 Flag of France.svg PSG Racing 97
 
October 17
 
 Flag of Spain.svg FCB Banca Catalana 84
 
 Flag of the United States.svg Chicago Bulls 89
 
 
 Flag of France.svg PSG Racing 82
 
 
October 18
 
 
 Flag of the United States.svg Chicago Bulls 104
 
October 16
 
 Flag of Greece.svg Olympiacos 78
 
 Flag of Argentina.svg Atenas 87
 
October 17
 
 Flag of Italy.svg Benetton Treviso 78
 
 Flag of Greece.svg Olympiacos 89
 
 
 Flag of Argentina.svg Atenas 86 Third place
 
 
October 18
 
 
 Flag of France.svg PSG Racing 78
 
 
 Flag of Argentina.svg Atenas 88
 
 
Fifth place
 
  
 
October 18
 
 
 Flag of Spain.svg FCB Banca Catalana 103
 
 
 Flag of Italy.svg Benetton Treviso 106
 

Final

Final standings

ClubRecord
Supercoppaitaliana.png Flag of the United States.svg Chicago Bulls 2–0
Silver medal europe.svg Flag of Greece.svg Olympiacos 1-1
Bronze medal europe.svg Flag of Argentina.svg Atenas 2–1
4. Flag of France.svg PSG Racing 1–2
5. Flag of Italy.svg Benetton Treviso 1-1
6. Flag of Spain.svg FC Barcelona Banca Catalana 0–2
1997 McDonald's Champions
Flag of the United States.svg
Chicago Bulls

References

  1. ↑ Murray Crnogaj (April 21, 2020). "The Bulls didn't win just any international exhibition tournament - they won the 1997 McDonald's Open Championship!". Basketball Network. Retrieved June 28, 2025.
  2. ↑ Frederic Potet (October 16, 1997). "La NBA vient faire la démonstration de sa puissance à Paris". Le Monde (in French). Retrieved June 28, 2025.
  3. ↑ "Bulls add international title to their trophy case". The Grand Rapids Press . Association Press. October 19, 1997. p. E1. Retrieved June 28, 2025– via Newspapers.com. Open Access logo PLoS transparent.svg
  4. ↑ "Bulls opponent set for semis of McDonald's". Citizen Register. Association Press. October 17, 1997. p. 6D. Retrieved June 28, 2025– via Newspapers.com. Open Access logo PLoS transparent.svg

Sources

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