FIBA EuroStars was an annual All-Star Game showcase of the sport of European professional club basketball. It was organized by FIBA Europe. Commonly considered to be the European equivalent of the NBA All-Star Game, the FIBA EuroStars Game featured the season's best players, from both the European-wide top-tier level EuroLeague, and the European-wide 2nd-tier level FIBA Saporta Cup competitions. Diversity was considered to be paramount in the selection process, which aimed at allowing several different European national basketball leagues to be represented in the game.
When the first FIBA EuroStars event was held in 1996, it replaced FIBA's original all-star game event, which was called the FIBA Festival. The FIBA Festival had taken place on-and-off, from 1964 to 1995. FIBA EuroStars was held from the 1996–97 season, through the 1999–00 season, before it was discontinued, due to the FIBA–EuroLeague dispute. In 2007, the event was briefly brought back, under a different format, for one final edition.[1][2]
History
The FIBA EuroStars all-star event was initially held at the very end of the calendar year, during the middle of the current club season, and it initially lasted as an event for four seasons. The FIBA EuroStar events were patterned after the design of the NBA All-Star Game – a match between the East and West geographically. Also like the NBA All-Star Event, the FIBA EuroStars Event a featured a 3-point shootout contest. Players that competed in one of the European national pro club leagues located on the east side of Europe (GBL, TBSL, YUBA, RBSL, IBSL, etc.) were eligible for selection to the East Team, regardless of their individual countries of origin. On the other hand, players that competed in European national pro club leagues on the west side of Europe (ACB, LEGA, Pro A, BBL, LKL, etc.), were eligible for selection to the West Team. The Eastern Stars defeated their Western opponents on all four editions of the all-star game, under that original format.
In 2007, FIBA Europe brought back the FIBA EuroStar Game, but with a new format. The revised version of the all-star game kept the FIBA EuroStar name. Under the revised format, the then-current champions of the FIBA EuroBasket, would play against an All-Star FIBA European Selection Team, composed of players from various different European national teams. Also, under the revised format, there would no longer be a 3-Point Contest. FIBA rebranded the All-Star Event as the 1st edition of the tournament, under the new format. While it counted the newly revised EuroStar Game as being a part of the original FIBA EuroStar games, that were held from 1996 to 1999.
At the 2007 FIBA EuroStars Game, FIBA also honored some of the FIBA EuroStars of the past. Sergei Belov, Antonello Riva, Doron Jamchi, Dejan Bodiroga, Vladimir Tkachenko, and Vlade Divac.[3] were selected to the FIBA All-Time EuroStars Team. Theo Papaloukas was also given the 2006 FIBA Europe Player of the Year award, prior to the start of the 2007 all-star game. Originally, FIBA Europe intended for the event to continue to take place every two years, after the new champions of each subsequent FIBA EuroBasket were crowned.[4] Ultimately however, the 2007 game was the last edition of the FIBA EuroStar Game to date.
The 2000 All-Star Game was cancelled, as at that time, European pro club basketball was in a dispute, having two 1st-tier level competitions taking place in the same 2000–01 club basketball league season. With the two rival leagues, the FIBA SuproLeague and EuroLeague Basketball, competing directly against each other.[5]
2007 FIBA EuroStars - Athens, Greece (2006–07 season)
Abdi İpekçi, Istanbul
David Rivers
Zoran Savić
Yad Eliyahu, Tel Aviv
Artūras Karnišovas
Max Schmeling, Berlin
Carlton Myers
Olimpiisky, Moscow
OAKA, Athens
