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The NBA Canada Series are a series of basketball games featuring National Basketball Association teams that are played in Canada.
The first official series started in 2012, although previous preseason games had been played in Canada outside of Toronto before. Specifically, in October 1990, the Indiana Pacers played three games against the Bullets and Rockets. These 3 games were played in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador; Halifax, Nova Scotia; and Kitchener, Ontario. [1] There was no series in 2017 due to the early start of the season. [2] Planning for the series was overseen by Dan MacKenzie, vice president and managing director NBA Canada. [3] There was also no series in 2020 and 2021 due to travel restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic by the Canadian government that made it impossible for teams to cross the Canada–United States border.
The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams. It is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada and is considered the premier professional basketball league in the world.
The Toronto Raptors are a Canadian professional basketball team based in Toronto. The Raptors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home games at Scotiabank Arena, which it shares with the Toronto Maple Leafs of the National Hockey League (NHL). The team was founded in 1995 as part of the NBA's expansion into Canada, along with the Vancouver Grizzlies. Since the 2001–02 season, the Raptors have been the only Canadian-based team in the league, as the Grizzlies relocated from Vancouver to Memphis, Tennessee.
Predrag Stojaković, known by his nickname Peja, is a Serbian professional basketball executive and former player who was most recently the assistant general manager and director of player personnel and development of the Sacramento Kings of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was inducted into the Greek Basket League Hall of Fame in 2022.
Maceo Demond Baston is an American former professional basketball player. He played college basketball at the University of Michigan. At a playing height of 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m), and a playing weight of 230 pounds (104 kg), he played at the power forward position.
Anthony Michael Parker is an American professional basketball executive who is the general manager of the Orlando Magic and former professional basketball player who played in the National Basketball Association (NBA), as well as in Italy and Israel. He is one of the most beloved and successful players in Maccabi Tel Aviv history.
Hidayet "Hedo" Türkoğlu is a Turkish basketball executive and former professional player. A 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) forward, Türkoğlu played for six teams in his 15-season career in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He won the NBA's Most Improved Player for the 2007–08 NBA season and played in the NBA Finals for the Magic in 2009. He also played for Turkey's national team in international competition. Türkoğlu has served as president of the Turkish Basketball Federation since October 2016.
The 1998–99 NBA season was the 53rd season of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Due to a lockout, the season did not start until February 5, 1999, after a new six-year Collective Bargaining Agreement was reached between the NBA and the National Basketball Players Association. All 29 teams played a shortened 50-game-per-team regular season schedule and the 16 teams who qualified for the playoffs played a full post-season schedule. That season's All-Star Game, which would have been held in Philadelphia, was also canceled. The season ended with the San Antonio Spurs winning the franchise's first NBA championship, beating the New York Knicks 4 games to 1 in the 1999 NBA Finals. This was the 50th season since the BAA and NBL had merged into the NBA.
The 1997–98 NBA season was the 52nd season of the National Basketball Association. The season ended with the Chicago Bulls winning their third straight championship and sixth in the last eight years, beating the Utah Jazz 4 games to 2 in the 1998 NBA Finals. It also marked the departure of Michael Jordan and the end of the dynasty for the Chicago Bulls.
The 1988–89 NBA season was the 43rd season of the National Basketball Association. The season ended with the Detroit Pistons winning the NBA Championship, sweeping the Los Angeles Lakers. This was the first season of the Miami Heat and Charlotte Hornets.
Haywoode Wilvon Workman is an American former basketball player who is a referee in the National Basketball Association (NBA).
José Manuel Calderón Borrallo is a Spanish basketball executive and former player who is a special advisor for the Cleveland Cavaliers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played professionally for 21 years including 14 seasons in the NBA, primarily with the Toronto Raptors with whom he set an NBA record for the highest free throw percentage in a season. With the Spain national team, he won a FIBA World Cup title in 2006, two Olympic silver medals in 2008 and 2012, as well as a bronze medal at the 2016 Summer Olympics. He also won a EuroBasket title in 2011, two silver medals in 2003 and 2007 as well as a bronze in 2013. Calderón earned an All-EuroBasket Team selection in 2007.
The NBA Global Games are a series of games featuring NBA teams that are played outside the United States and Canada. Its purpose is to bring teams from the National Basketball Association (NBA) to play games against either another NBA team or a foreign club.
Serge Jonás Ibaka Ngobila is a Spanish-Congolese professional basketball player for Real Madrid of the Spanish Liga ACB and the EuroLeague. He was drafted by the Seattle SuperSonics with the 24th overall pick in the 2008 NBA draft. Ibaka is a three-time NBA All-Defensive First Team selection and has twice led the league in blocks. Although born in the Republic of the Congo, he is also a Spanish citizen and has played for the Spain national team. In 2019, Ibaka won an NBA championship as a key member of the Toronto Raptors.
Giannis Giannoulis (alternate spellings: Gioannis, Yannis, Ioannis, Yiannis is a Greek-Canadian former professional basketball player. During his playing career, at a height of 2.08 m tall, he played at both the power forward and center positions.
The Naismith Cup was an annual pre-season National Basketball Association (NBA) exhibition game. From the 1995 season through 2000, it was played between the two Canadian NBA rivals, the Toronto Raptors and the Vancouver Grizzlies, at neutral venues across Canada. The cup was named after James Naismith, the Canadian inventor of basketball, and was originally created to raise money for Canada Basketball, similar to the Pearson Cup competition between Canada's Major League Baseball teams the Toronto Blue Jays and Montreal Expos. Following the Grizzlies relocation to Memphis the cup was laid dead, though the Raptors continued the tradition of hosting neutral site pre-season games in Canadian cities under the NBA Canada Series name. The Raptors won the series against Vancouver 4–1.
The EuroLeague American Tour was a series of games organized in 2009, 2010 and 2012. Its purpose is for EuroLeague and sometimes 2nd-tier level EuroCup teams to play against National Basketball Association teams. The games of the EuroLeague American Tour are played by NBA rules.
The following is a list of NBA versus EuroLeague games. The list includes only games in which NBA clubs have played against teams that participated in that same upcoming season's top-tier level EuroLeague competition. The first game was played in the year 1978, by the defending NBA champion, the Washington Bullets, and Maccabi Tel Aviv, prior to the 1978–79 basketball season.
Cory Ephram Joseph is a Canadian professional basketball player for the Orlando Magic of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He plays the point guard position and was previously the captain of the Canadian national team.
NBLxNBA is a series involving clubs from the National Basketball League (NBL) of Australia and New Zealand and the National Basketball Association (NBA) of the United States and Canada. The series started in 2017 for each league's 2017–18 season, and each season includes between two and seven games. The games have always been held in United States of America and Canada, and typically are held during September and early October.