The 1997 McDonald's Championship took place at

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Summary

The teams that took part in the 8th edition of the tournament were the

Chicago Bulls The Chicago Bulls are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago. The Bulls compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division of the Eastern Conference. The team was founded on January 16 ...

, 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 The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

champions, the

won it beating Olympiacos in the final at the Palais Omnisport de Paris-Bercy, in

. 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 Michael Jeffrey Jordan (born February 17, 1963), also known by his initials MJ, is an American businessman and former professional basketball player, who is currently a minority owner of the Charlotte Hornets of the National Basketball Ass ...

, and without

Scottie Pippen Scotty Maurice Pippen Sr. (born September 25, 1965), usually spelled Scottie Pippen, is an American former professional basketball player. He played 17 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA), winning six NBA championships with th ...

managed to win their semifinal game against the hosts PSG Racing coached by

Božidar Maljković Božidar "Boža" Maljković ( sr-Cyrl, Божидар "Божа" Маљковић; born 20 April 1952) is a Serbian former professional basketball coach and current president of the Olympic Committee of Serbia. He is one of the most successful b ...

, by 89–82. In the final game

faced European champions Olympiacos Piraeus. The Greek side coached by legendary Serbian coach

Dušan Ivković Dušan "Duda" Ivković ( sr-Cyrl, Душан "Дуда" Ивковић; 29 October 1943 – 16 September 2021) was a Serbian professional basketball player and coach. He served as head coach of the senior Serbian national basketball team from 2 ...

proved stronger than PSG Racing, but the Bulls pulled the best of their abilities and cruised to an easy 104–78 win. The tournament was mentioned in an early episode of the documentary miniseries, The Last Dance.

Participants

Bracket

Final

27, Randy Brown 12,

Steve Kerr Stephen Douglas Kerr (born September 27, 1965) is an American professional basketball coach and former player who is the head coach for the Golden State Warriors of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the United States men's national ...

10,

Luc Longley Lucien James Longley (born 19 January 1969) is an Australian professional basketball coach and former player. He was the first Australian to play in the National Basketball Association (NBA), where he played for four teams over 10 seasons. He m ...

Bill Wennington William Percey Wennington (born April 26, 1963) is a Canadian former professional basketball player who won three National Basketball Association (NBA) championships with the Chicago Bulls. A center, he represented Canada in the 1984 Olympics a ...

Toni Kukoč Toni Kukoč (; born September 18, 1968) is a Croatian former professional basketball player who serves as Special Advisor to Jerry Reinsdorf, the owner of the Chicago Bulls. After a highly successful period in European basketball, he was one of ...

Boris Gorenc Boris Gorenc (born 3 December 1973) is a former Slovenian professional basketball player, and basketball sports agent, agent. Professional career Gorenc started playing basketball in KK Domžale, before in 1990 he joined KK Olimpija. He had bee ...

Jason Caffey Jason Andre Caffey (born June 12, 1973) is an American former professional basketball player who won two championship rings with the Chicago Bulls in the late 1990s. He later became the head coach of the American Basketball Association's Mobil ...

Ron Harper Ronald Harper Sr. (born January 20, 1964) is an American former professional basketball player. He played for four teams in the National Basketball Association (NBA) between 1986 and 2001 and is a five-time NBA champion. Early life Ronald Har ...

Jud Buechler Judson Donald Buechler (born June 19, 1968) is an American professional basketball coach and former player who was recently an assistant coach for the New York Knicks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was part of the Chicago Bul ...

Scott Burrell Scott David Burrell (born January 12, 1971) is an American basketball coach and former player who is currently the men's basketball head coach at Southern Connecticut State University. He has played internationally and was also a professional b ...

Joe Kleine Joseph William Kleine (born January 4, 1962) is an American former professional basketball player who played fifteen seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA) and for the US national team. He won a gold medal as a member of the Un ...

Keith Booth Keith Eugene Booth (born October 9, 1974) is an American basketball coach and former National Basketball Association (NBA) player. Booth played college basketball at the University of Maryland from 1993 to 1997. He was an assistant coach at his ...

Dante Calabria Dante John Calabria (born November 8, 1973) is an Italian-American former professional basketball player and coach. He is currently the head coach of Pistoia Basket 2000 of the Lega Basket Serie A (LBA). College career Calabria played college ba ...

Rusty LaRue Rusty LaRue (born December 10, 1973) is an American basketball coach and former professional player. He was a multi-sport athlete who played basketball, baseball, and football at Wake Forest University. LaRue played in the National Basketball As ...

. Coach:

Phil Jackson Philip Douglas Jackson (born September 17, 1945) is an American former professional basketball player, coach, and executive in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Jackson is a 13-time NBA champion, having won two as a player and 11 as ...

Olympiacos Olympiacós Sýndesmos Filáthlon Peiraiós (, Olympic Association of Fans of Piraeus) is a major multi-sport club based in Piraeus, Greece. Olympiacos is parent to a number of different competitive departments which participate in football, ...

Artūras Karnišovas Artūras Karnišovas (born April 27, 1971) is a Lithuanian professional basketball executive and former player. He is the current executive vice president of basketball operations of the Chicago Bulls of the National Basketball Association (NBA) ...

19,

Franko Nakić Franko Nakić (; born June 9, 1972) is a Croatian-Greek retired professional basketball player. Under his Greek nationality, he is known by the name of Franko Nakits. Early life Nakić was born in Šibenik, to his father, Mile Nakić, who is a C ...

16,

Dragan Tarlać Dragan Tarlać ( sr-cyr, Драган Тарлаћ, born May 9, 1973) is a retired Serbian professional basketball player. He also holds Greek citizenship. Standing at , he played as a center. Professional career Europe After starting his seni ...

14, Michael Hawkins 12, Dimitris Karaplis 6, Johnny Rogers 4,

Milan Tomić Milan Tomić (, Greek: Μίλαν Τόμιτς; born 24 July 1973) is a Serbian-Greek professional basketball coach and former player. Tomić has spent almost all of his professional playing and coaching career in Greece, after he took Greek n ...

3, Aleksey Savrasenko 2,

Nikos Michalos Nikolaos "Nikos" Michalos (alternate spelling: Mihalos) (Greek: Νικόλαος "Νίκος" Μίχαλος; born May 21, 1977, in Maroussi, Athens, Greece) is a Greek former professional basketball player. At a height of 1.92 m (6'3 ") tall, he ...

Dušan Vukčević Dušan Vukčević (Serbian Cyrillic: Душан Вукчевић; born 14 November 1975) is a retired Serbian professional basketball player and coach, who last served as an assistant coach for Peristeri Athens of the Greek Basket League and the ...

Efthimis Bakatsias Efthimis Bakatsias (alternate spelling: Efthimios, , ; January 14, 1968) is a retired Greek professional basketball player. Born in Athens, he played professionally in the Greek Basket League and represented Greece at senior level. Professional ...

, Anatoly Zourpenko,

Nikos Pettas Nikolaos "Nikos" Pettas (Greek: Νικόλαος "Νίκος" Πέττας; born February 28, 1981) is a Greek professional basketball player. He is a 6 ft 4 in (1.95 m) tall shooting guard-small forward. Professional career Pettas began ...

. Coach:

Final standings

Sources

1997 edition

External links

raisport.rai.it
{{DEFAULTSORT:McDonald's 1997-98 1997–98 in American basketball 1997–98 in Greek basketball 1997–98 in Spanish basketball 1997–98 in French basketball 1997–98 in Italian basketball 1997–98 in Argentine basketball International basketball competitions hosted by France