NBA Europe Live Tour (2006-2012)

The NBA Europe Live Tour (also known as NBA Europe Live) was a series of annual basketball exhibition tours that featured teams from the NBA and teams from Europe's top professional leagues on European soil. It was launched by the National Basketball Association and the Euroleague Basketball and it would take place during the NBA's pre-season in September of October and lasted from 2006 until 2012.

Most of the European teams were playing in the ULEB-inititated EuroLeague and Europe's 2nd-tier level EuroCup. The games of the NBA Europe Live Tour Tour were played by the NBA rules. Many legendary players like Kevin Garnett, Carmelo Anthony, Paul Pierce, Allen Iverson, Tony Parker, Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili have featured in the series from 2006 until 2012.

History

On June 14, 2005, NBA and Euroleague Basketball announced the launch of the NBA Europe Tour as part of a 2-year partnership agreement with Electronic Arts.[1] The series' website (as www.nba.com/europelive) went live in December 2005.

In October 2006, four NBA teams travelled to different European countries to conduct their first week of training camp overseas: the Philadelphia 76ers in Barcelona, Spain; the Los Angeles Clippers in Moscow, Russia; the San Antonio Spurs in France; and the Phoenix Suns in Treviso, Italy. The 76ers and the Suns also participated in the Cologne tournament which was on by the Philadelphia 76ers. It was the first time since the last McDonald's Championship in 1999 that NBA teams faced top European clubs in a tournament. The final game of the Tour in Barcelona attracted 16,236 fans which was the edition's record (Philadelphia 76ers against Barcelona).[2]

The 2008 edition featured only four NBA teams playing against each other in European cities. In 2009 the EuroLeague American Tour started alongside the NBA Europe Live with Euroleague teams touring the USA to face NBA teams.

There was no tour in 2011 due to the NBA lock-out[3][4] and the series resumed in 2012 for its final edition.[5]

Editions

Year Host countries Team with best record Record
2006 Germany, Russia, France, Italy, and Spain San Antonio Spurs
PBC CSKA Moscow		 2-0
2007 England, Italy, Spain and Turkey Boston Celtics 2-0
2008 England, France, Germany and Spain New Jersey Nets
New Orleans Hornets		 2-0
2009 England, and Spain Indiana Pacers
Phoenix Suns
Philadelphia 76ers		 2-0
2010 England, France, and Spain Minnesota Timberwolves 2-0
2012 Germany, Turkey, Italy, and Spain Boston Celtics 2-0

Topscorers

Year Player Points Games Team
2006 Allen Iverson 57 3 Philadelphia 76ers
2007 Andrea Bargnani 49 3 Toronto Raptors
2008 Dwyane Wade 39 2 Miami Heat
2009 Carmelo Anthony 62 2 Denver Nuggets
2010 Amar'e Stoudemire 43 2 New York Knicks
2012 Jeff Green 33 2 Boston Celtics

Teams with most participations

Club Participations Editions
FC Barcelona Regal 3 2006, 2011, 2012
San Antonio Spurs 2 2009, 2012
Phoenix Suns 2 2006, 2009
Memphis Grizzlies 2 2010, 2012
Philadelphia 76ers 2 2006, 2009
Boston Celtics 2 2007, 2012
Los Angeles Clippers 2 2006, 2009
Minnesota Timberwolves 2 2007, 2010
New York Knicks 2 2009, 2010
Olimpia Milano 2 2010, 2012
Maccabi Tel Aviv 2 2006, 2009
Lottomatica Roma 2 2006, 2007
Real Madrid 2 2007. 2009

See also

References

  1. ^ NBA AND EUROLEAGUE BASKETBALL ANNOUNCE NBA EUROPE LIVE PRESENTED BY EA SPORTS (2005) - gamesindustry.biz
  2. ^ Final Attendance From NBA Europe Live Tour Games - sportsbusinessjournal.com
  3. ^ "NBA Collective Bargaining Agreement Ratified and Signed". NBA. July 30, 2005. Archived from the original on December 2, 2010.
  4. ^ "N.B.A. and Union cannot Agree on Exactly What's at Issue". The New York Times. June 16, 2005. Retrieved August 4, 2011.
  5. ^ (2012) NBA Europe Live 2012 schedule announced - nba.com

Sources

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