1997 McDonald's Championship
The 1997 McDonald's Championship took place at Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy in Paris, France.
| 1997 McDonald's Championship | |
|---|---|
| League | McDonald's Championship |
| Sport | Basketball |
| Duration | 16–18 October |
| Top scorer | Michael Jordan |
| Finals champions | Chicago Bulls |
| Runners-up | Olympiacos |
| Finals MVP | Michael Jordan |
Summary
The teams that took part in the 8th edition of the tournament were the Chicago Bulls, Paris Basket Racing (France), Olympiacos Piraeus (Greece), Atenas de Cordoba (Argentina), Benetton Treviso (Italy) and FC Barcelona Banca Catalana (Spain). The 1991, 1992, 1993, 1996 & 1997 NBA champions, the Chicago Bulls won it beating Olympiacos in the final at the Palais Omnisport de Paris-Bercy, in Paris.
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.
Participants
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Bracket
| Preliminary round | Semi-finals | Finals | ||||||||
| October 16 | ||||||||||
| PSG Racing | 97 | |||||||||
| October 17 | ||||||||||
| FCB Banca Catalana | 84 | |||||||||
| Chicago Bulls | 89 | |||||||||
| PSG Racing | 82 | |||||||||
| October 18 | ||||||||||
| Chicago Bulls | 104 | |||||||||
| October 16 | ||||||||||
| Olympiacos | 78 | |||||||||
| Atenas | 87 | |||||||||
| October 17 | ||||||||||
| Benetton Treviso | 78 | |||||||||
| Olympiacos | 89 | |||||||||
| Atenas | 86 | Third place | ||||||||
| October 18 | ||||||||||
| PSG Racing | 78 | |||||||||
| Atenas | 88 | |||||||||
| Fifth place | ||
| October 18 | ||
| FCB Banca Catalana | 103 | |
| Benetton Treviso | 106 | |
Final
October 18 (CET) |
| Chicago Bulls | 104–78 | Olympiacos |
| Scoring by quarter: 30-20, 24-23, 21-17, 29-18 | ||
| Pts: Michael Jordan 27 | Pts: Artūras Karnišovas 19 | |
- Chicago Bulls
- Michael Jordan 27, Randy Brown 12, Steve Kerr 10, Luc Longley 9, Bill Wennington 8, Toni Kukoč 5, Boris Gorenc 7, Jason Caffey 6, Ron Harper 6, Jud Buechler 6, Scott Burrell 4, Joe Kleine 2, Keith Booth 2, Dante Calabria, Rusty LaRue. Coach: Phil Jackson
- Olympiacos
- Artūras Karnišovas 19, Franko Nakić 16, Dragan Tarlać 14, Michael Hawkins 12, Dimitris Karaplis 6, Johnny Rogers 4, Milan Tomić 3, Aleksey Savrasenko 2, Nikos Michalos 2, Dušan Vukčević, Efthimis Bakatsias, Anatoly Zourpenko, Nikos Pettas. Coach: Dušan Ivković
Final standings
| Club | Record | |
|---|---|---|
| Chicago Bulls | 2-0 | |
| Olympiacos | 1-1 | |
| Atenas | 2-1 | |
| 4. | PSG Racing | 1-2 |
| 5. | Benetton Treviso | 1-1 |
| 6. | FC Barcelona Banca Catalana | 0-2 |
| 1997 McDonald's Champions |
|---|
Chicago Bulls |