1997 in basketball explained
Championships
Professional
Chicago Bulls over the Utah Jazz 4-2. MVP: Michael Jordan
Yugoslavia 61, Italy 49
Houston Comets over the New York Liberty. MVP: Cynthia Cooper
Lithuania def. Slovakia
College
University of Arizona 84, University of Kentucky 79
University of Michigan def. Florida State University
Cal State Bakersfield 57, Northern Kentucky University 56
Illinois Wesleyan University 89, Nebraska Wesleyan University 86
Life University (Ga.) 73, Oklahoma Baptist University 64
Bethel College (Indiana) (IN) 95, Siena Heights College (MI) 94
Indian Hills CC, Ottumwa, Iowa 89, San Jacinto College, (TX) 80
University of Tennessee 68, Old Dominion University 59
North Dakota State University 94, University of Southern Indiana 78
Southern Nazarene University (OK) 78 Union College (TN) (73)
Preps
Bloomington North defeats Delta to win Indiana's last open-class basketball state championship.
Awards and honors
Professional
Karl Malone
Allen Iverson
Dikembe Mutombo
Pat Riley, Miami Heat
Cynthia Cooper, Houston Comets
Teresa Weatherspoon, New York Liberty
Zheng Haixia, Los Angeles Sparks
Van Chancellor, Houston Comets
Cynthia Cooper, Houston Comets
Collegiate
Tim Duncan, Wake Forest
Roy Williams, Kansas
Brevin Knight, Stanford
Tim Duncan, Wake Forest
Jeff Sheppard, Kentucky
Clem Haskins, Minnesota
- Naismith Outstanding Contribution to Basketball
Phog Allen
Kate Starbird, Stanford
Geno Auriemma, Connecticut
DeLisha Milton, Florida
Jennifer Howard, NC State
Kara Wolters, Connecticut
Chamique Holdsclaw, Tennessee
Amy Ruley, North Dakota State University
Geno Auriemma, Connecticut
Events
- WNBA played its first season.
Movies
Deaths
- January 8 — Paul Endacott, Hall of Fame player for the Kansas Jayhawks (born 1902)
- February 2 — Raimundo Saporta, former head of Real Madrid basketball and FIBA Hall of Fame member (born 1926)
- March 6 — Roger Brown, player for Indiana Pacers (born 1942)
- April 18 — Francis Johnson, American Olympic gold medalist (1936) (born 1910)
- May 16 — Bones McKinney, former coach of the Wake Forest Demon Deacons and early NBA player (born 1919)
- May 17 — Tusten Ackerman, All-American college player at Kansas (born 1901)
- June 5 — Joe Schaaf, All-American college player (Penn) (born 1908)
- September 7 — Bill Strannigan, American college coach (Colorado State, Iowa State, Wyoming) (born 1918)
- December 23 — Lester Harrison, Hall of Fame coach of the 1951 NBA Champion Rochester Royals (born 1904)
See also
Notes and References
- Web site: NJCAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL RECORD BOOK. NJCAA. 10 Oct 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20141014235109/http://www.njcaa.org/Record%20Books/Basketball%20%28Women%27s%29/Women%27s%20Basketball%20Record%20Book.pdf. 2014-10-14. dead.
- Web site: Hall of Famers. Basketball Hall of Fame. 12 Oct 2014.
