McDonald's Championship


The McDonald's Championship was an international men's professional basketball club 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 biennial event. For the first two years, the men's national teams from Yugoslavia and the Soviet Union participated.
The McDonald's Championship, from 1987 to 1996, was thought to be the unofficial successor of 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 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.
In 1999, the FIBA Asia basketball club champions, Sagesse Club, participated in the McDonald's Championship, the first and only time Asia was represented in the tournament.
The McDonald's Championship was discontinued after 1999.

History

Names of the competition

After the first tournament, the competition was played in a single elimination format, with the winners of each match advancing to the next round.

Rules

The competition combined rules of both the NBA and the European leagues.

Results

MVPs

Top 4 finishes by team

Top 4 finishes by country