2008 in basketball

Tournaments

Men's tournaments

Olympics

• FIBA World Olympic Qualifying Tournament 2008 at Athens
• *
• *
• *
• 2008 Olympics at Beijing
• :
• :
• :

  Other tournaments

• EuroBasket 2009 qualification

  Women's tournaments

Olympics

• FIBA World Olympic Qualifying Tournament for Women 2008 at Madrid
• *
• *
• *
• *
• *
• 2008 Olympics at Beijing
• :
• :
• :

  Other tournaments

• EuroBasket Women 2009 qualification

  Youth tournaments

Club championships

Continental seasons

Men

National championships

• NBA
• *Season:
• **Western Conference: Los Angeles Lakers
• **Eastern Conference and League: Boston Celtics
• **Other Division champions: Detroit Pistons, New Orleans Hornets, Utah Jazz, Orlando Magic
• *Finals: The Boston Celtics defeat the Los Angeles Lakers 4-2 in the best-of-seven NBA Finals. Finals MVP: Paul Pierce
• Liga Nacional de Básquet, 2007–08 season:
• * Regular season: Libertad
• * Playoffs: Libertad defeat Quimsa 4–0 in the best-of-seven final.
• National Basketball League, 2007–08 season: The Melbourne Tigers defeat the Sydney Kings 3-2 in the best-of-five grand finals.
• Chinese Basketball Association, 2007–08 season: The Guangdong Southern Tigers defeat the Liaoning Hunters 4-1 in the best-of-seven finals.
• Croatian League:
• French League: Nancy crush defending champions Chorale Roanne 84–53 in the one-off final.
• German Bundesliga:
• Greek League: Panathinaikos defeat Olympiacos 3–2 in the best-of-five final.
• Iranian Super League, 2007–08 season: Mahram defeat Saba Battery 2–0 in the best-of-three final.
• Israel Super League: Hapoel Holon defeat Maccabi Tel Aviv, the 14-time defending champions, 73–72 in the one-off final.
• Italian Serie A: Montepaschi Siena defeat Lottomatica Roma 4-1 in the best-of-seven final.
• Lithuanian LKL: Žalgiris defeat Lietuvos Rytas 4-1 in the best-of-seven final.
• Montenegro League:
• Philippine Basketball Association, 2007–08 season:
• *Philippine Cup: The Sta. Lucia Realtors defeat the Purefoods Tender Juicy Giants 4-3 in the best-of-seven finals. Finals MVP: Dennis Espino
• *Fiesta Conference: The Barangay Ginebra Kings defeat the Air21 Express 4-3 in the best-of-seven Finals. Finals MVPs: Ronald Tubid and Eric Menk
• Polish League:
• Russian Super League, 2007–08 season: CSKA Moscow sweep Dynamo Moscow 3–0 in the best-of-five final.
• Serbia Super League:
• Slovenian League: Union Olimpija defeat Helios Domžale 3-1 in the best-of-five finals.
• Spanish ACB:
• *Season: Real Madrid
• *Playoffs: TAU Cerámica sweep AXA FC Barcelona 3–0 in the best-of-five final.
• Turkish Basketball League:
• British Basketball League, 2007–08:
• *Season:
• *Playoffs:
• Adriatic League:

• 2008 WNBA Finals: Detroit Shock
• EuroLeague Women 2007–08: Spartak Moscow Region

  College

Men

• NCAA
• *Division I: Kansas 75, Memphis 68 OT
• **Most Outstanding Player: Mario Chalmers, Kansas
• *National Invitation Tournament:
• *Division II: Winona State 87, Augusta State 76
• *Division III: Washington University in St. Louis 90, Amherst 68
• NAIA
• *NAIA Division I: Oklahoma City 75, Mountain State 72
• *NAIA Division II: Oregon Tech 63, Bellevue 56
• NJCAA
• *Division I: South Plains College 67, Salt Lake CC 56
• *Division II: Mott Community College 83, Columb State Community College 73
• *Division III: North Lake College TX 73, Joliet Junior College IL 70
• *Philippine Collegiate Championship 2008: De La Salle University 71, Ateneo de Manila University 62
• *UAAP Men's: Ateneo de Manila University def. De La Salle University, 2-0 in the finals series
• *NCAA Seniors': San Beda College def. José Rizal University, 2-1 in the finals series

• NCAA
• *Division I: Tennessee 64, Stanford 48
• **Most Outstanding Player: Candace Parker, Tennessee
• *WNIT: Marquette 81, Michigan State 66
• *Division II: Northern Kentucky 63, South Dakota 58
• *Division III: Howard Payne 68, Messiah 54
• NAIA
• *NAIA Division I: Vanguard 72, Trevecca Nazarene 59
• *NAIA Division II: Northwestern College 82, College of the Ozarks MO 75
• NJCAA
• *Division I: Gulf Coast 62, Central Arizona 61
• *Division II: Kirkwood 78 vs Kankakee 53
• *Division III: Monroe CC NY 79, Mohawk Valley CC 48
• UAAP Women's: Far Eastern University def. University of the Philippines, 2-0 in the finals series

  Prep

• USA Today Boys Basketball Ranking #1: St. Anthony High School, Jersey City, New Jersey
• USA Today Girls Basketball Ranking #1: Sacred Heart Cathedral Preparatory, San Francisco, California
• NCAA Juniors: San Sebastian College-Recoletos def. Colegio de San Juan de Letran, 2-0 in the finals series
• UAAP Juniors: Ateneo High School def. De La Salle Zobel, 2-0 in the finals series

  Awards and honors

[Basketball Hall of Fame]

• Class of 2008:
• * Players: Adrian Dantley, Patrick Ewing, Hakeem Olajuwon
• * Coaches: Pat Riley, Cathy Rush
• * Contributors: William Davidson, Dick Vitale

  [Women's Basketball Hall of Fame]

• Class of 2008
• * Debbie Ryan
• * Patty Broderick
• * Lin L. Laursen
• * Jill Rankin Schneider
• * Suzie McConnell-Serio
• * Michelle Timms

  Professional

• Men
• *NBA Most Valuable Player Award: Kobe Bryant, Los Angeles Lakers
• *NBA Rookie of the Year Award: Kevin Durant, Seattle SuperSonics
• *NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award: Kevin Garnett, Boston Celtics
• *NBA Sixth Man of the Year Award: Manu Ginóbili, San Antonio Spurs
• *NBA Most Improved Player Award: Hedo Türkoğlu, Orlando Magic
• *NBA Coach of the Year Award: Byron Scott, New Orleans Hornets
• *FIBA Europe Player of the Year Award: Pau Gasol, Los Angeles Lakers and
• *Euroscar Award: Pau Gasol, Los Angeles Lakers and Spain
• *Mr. Europa: Ricky Rubio, Joventut Badalona and
• Women
• *WNBA Most Valuable Player Award: Candace Parker, Los Angeles Sparks
• *WNBA Defensive Player of the Year Award: Lisa Leslie, Los Angeles Sparks
• *WNBA Rookie of the Year Award: Candace Parker, Los Angeles Sparks
• *WNBA Sixth Woman of the Year Award: Candice Wiggins, Minnesota Lynx
• *WNBA Most Improved Player Award: Ebony Hoffman, Indiana Fever
• *Kim Perrot Sportsmanship Award: Vickie Johnson, San Antonio Silver Stars
• *WNBA Coach of the Year Award: Mike Thibault, Connecticut Sun
• *WNBA Finals Most Valuable Player Award: Katie Smith, Detroit Shock
• *FIBA Europe Player of the Year Award: Maria Stepanova, CSKA Samara and

  Collegiate

• Combined
• *Legends of Coaching Award: Pat Summitt, Tennessee
• Men
• *John R. Wooden Award: Tyler Hansbrough, North Carolina
• *Naismith College Coach of the Year: John Calipari, Memphis
• *Frances Pomeroy Naismith Award: Mike Green, Butler
• *Associated Press College Basketball Player of the Year: Tyler Hansbrough, North Carolina
• *NCAA Basketball Tournament Most Outstanding Player: Wayne Ellington, North Carolina
• *USBWA National Freshman of the Year: Michael Beasley, Kansas State
• *Associated Press College Basketball Coach of the Year: Keno Davis, Drake
• *Naismith Outstanding Contribution to Basketball: Dick Vitale
• Women
• *John R. Wooden Award: Candace Parker, Tennessee
• *Naismith College Player of the Year: Candace Parker, Tennessee
• *Naismith College Coach of the Year: Geno Auriemma, Connecticut
• *Wade Trophy: Candice Wiggins, Stanford
• *Frances Pomeroy Naismith Award: Jolene Anderson, Wisconsin
• *Associated Press Women's College Basketball Player of the Year: Candace Parker, Tennessee
• *NCAA Basketball Tournament Most Outstanding Player: Candace Parker, Tennessee
• *Basketball Academic All-America Team: Candace Parker, Tennessee
• *Carol Eckman Award: Doug Bruno, DePaul University
• *Maggie Dixon Award: Jeff Walz, Louisville
• *USBWA National Freshman of the Year: Maya Moore, Connecticut
• *Associated Press College Basketball Coach of the Year: Geno Auriemma, Connecticut
• *List of Senior CLASS Award women's basketball winners: Candice Wiggins, Stanford
• *Nancy Lieberman Award: Kristi Toliver, Maryland
• *Naismith Outstanding Contribution to Basketball: Jody Conradt

  Events

• The Seattle SuperSonics relocated to Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

  Movies

• More than a Game
• Semi-Pro - a screwball comedy film starring Will Ferrell, loosely based on the American Basketball Association in the 1970s.

  Deaths

• March 22 — Red Stroud, American ABA player
• March 25 — Ben Carnevale, American Hall of Fame coach of the Navy Midshipmen and North Carolina Tar Heels
• April 1 — Marvin Stone, former Kentucky Wildcats and Louisville Cardinals player
• April 4 — Julius McCoy, 76, All-American college player at Michigan State.
• April 9 — Art Spoelstra, American NBA player
• May 5 — Sam Aubrey, American college player and coach
• May 23 — Bob Knight, American professional basketball player
• June 25 — A. L. Bennett, American college player
• July 15 — Gennadi Volnov, Russian Olympic gold medalist
• August 20 — Larry Hennessy, American Villanova All-American
• August 20 — Kevin Duckworth, American NBA All-Star with the Portland Trail Blazers
• September 5 —Bob Cluggish, American BAA player
• September 5 — Doyle Parrack, American college coach
• September 8 — Don Haskins, American Hall of Fame coach of the UTEP Miners, 1966 National Champions
• September 19 — Ernie Andres, All-American college player, NBL player
• November 17 — Pete Newell, American Hall of Fame coach of the California Golden Bears, 1959 National Champions