1997 McDonald's Championship

1997 McDonald's Championship
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
McDonald's Championship seasons
	← 1995 McDonald's Championship 1999 McDonald's Championship →

The 1997 McDonald's Championship took place at Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy in Paris, France.

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

Continent	Teams	Clubs
Europe	4	FC Barcelona Banca Catalana	PSG Racing	Olympiacos	Benetton Treviso
North America	1	Chicago Bulls
South America	1	Atenas

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