FIBA EuroStars

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]

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.

Bold: Indicates the team that won the game.

Year (Season)	Date	Arena	Team	Score	Team	MVP	Top Scorer
1996 (1996–97)	December 30	Abdi İpekçi, Istanbul	East	117–114	West	David Rivers	Zoran Savić
1997 (1997–98)	December 30	Yad Eliyahu, Tel Aviv	East	129–107	West	Artūras Karnišovas	Sašha Đjorđjević
1998 (1998–99)	December 29	Max Schmeling, Berlin	East	104–98	West	Carlton Myers	Carlton Myers
1999 (1999–00)	December 28	Olimpiisky, Moscow	East	112–107	West	Tyus Edney	Artūras Karnišovas
2000 (2000–01)	December 27	OAKA, Athens	Cancelled due to the FIBA–EuroLeague dispute
2007 (2006–07)	June 30	OAKA, Athens	Greek NT	101–90	European Selection	N/A	Antonis Fotsis

Year (Season)	Winner	Team	Runner-up	Team
1996 (1996–97)	Delaney Rudd	ASVEL	Vasily Karasev	Efes Pilsen
1997 (1997–98)	Sašha Đjorđjević	FC Barcelona Banca Catalana	Guy Goodes	Caserta
1998 (1998–99)	Carlton Myers	Teamsyatem Bologna	Petar Naumoski	Efes Pilsen
1999 (1999–00)	İbrahim Kutluay	Fenerbahçe	Tyus Edney	Benetton Treviso
2000 (2000–01)	Cancelled due to the FIBA–EuroLeague dispute
2007 (2006–07)	Not held

Arena: Abdi İpekçi, Istanbul

Date: December 30, 1996

Season: 1996–97

Score: East 117 – West 114

Game MVP: David Rivers

3 Point Contest winner: Delaney Rudd (defeated Vasily Karasev in the final)

Top scorers: Zoran Savić (30 points), Nikos Oikonomou (25 points)

( Richard Dacoury, Dragan Tarlać, Antoine Rigaudeau and Georgios Sigalas were selected, but they didn't play in the game.)

Arena: Yad Eliyahu, Tel Aviv

Date: December 30, 1997

Season: 1997–98

Score: East 129 – West 107

EAST:

• Dino Rađja
• Byron Scott
• Artūras Karnišovas
• Petar Naumoski
• Sergei Bazarevich
• Oded Kattash
• Damir Mulaomerović
• Rashard Griffith
• Nikos Oikonomou
• Peja Drobnjak
• Gintaras Einikis
• Nadav Henefeld
• Coach: Dušan Ivković

WEST:

• Sasha Danilović
• David Rivers
• Antoine Rigaudeau
• Zoran Savić
• Sašha Đjorđjević
• Gregor Fučka
• Željko Rebrača
• Vasily Karasev
• Wendell Alexis
• Alberto Herreros
• Vladimir Stepania
• Coach: Ettore Messina

Game MVP: Artūras Karnišovas

3 Point Contest winner: Sašha Đjorđjević (defeated Guy Goodes in the final)

Top scorers: Sašha Đjorđjević (23 points), Artūras Karnišovas (19 points)

( Dejan Bodiroga was selected, but he didn't play in the game.)

Arena: Max Schmeling, Berlin

Date: December 29, 1998

Season: 1998–99

Score: East 104 – West 98

EAST:

• Dejan Bodiroga
• Dino Rađja
• David Rivers
• Petar Naumoski
• Doron Sheffer
• Conrad McRae
• İbrahim Kutluay
• Marko Milič
• Nikos Oikonomou
• Dragan Tarlać
• Saulius Štombergas
• Vasily Karasev
• Coach: Stanislav Yeryomin

WEST:

• Sasha Danilović
• Artūras Karnišovas
• Antoine Rigaudeau
• Željko Rebrača
• Carlton Myers
• Rašho Nesterović
• Wendell Alexis
• Alberto Herreros
• Andrea Meneghin
• Henrik Rödl
• Éric Struelens
• Coach: Svetislav Pešić

Game MVP: Carlton Myers

3 Point Contest winner: Carlton Myers (defeated Petar Naumoski in the final)

Top scorers: Carlton Myers (20 points), Sasha Danilović (19 points)

( Tanoka Beard was selected, but he didn't play in the game.)

Arena: Olimpiisky, Moscow

Date: December 28, 1999

Season: 1999–2000

Score: East 112 – West 107

EAST:

• David Rivers
• Dejan Bodiroga
• Andrei Kirilenko
• İbrahim Kutluay
• Oded Kattash
• Anthony Bowie
• Dragan Tarlać
• Jiří Zídek Jr.
• Vasily Karasev
• Igor Kudelin
• Coach: Alexander Gomelsky

WEST:

• Tyus Edney
• Artūras Karnišovas
• Stojko Vranković
• Gregor Fučka
• Nikos Oikonomou
• Marko Milič
• Jim Bilba
• Andrea Meneghin
• Tanoka Beard
• Alessandro Abbio
• Coach: Carlo Recalcati

Game MVP: Tyus Edney

3 Point Contest winner: İbrahim Kutluay (defeated Tyus Edney in the final)

Top scorers: Artūras Karnišovas (29 points), Vasily Karasev (20 points), Tyus Edney (19 points), Dragan Tarlać (18 points), Dejan Bodiroga (18 points), Oded Kattash (16 points), Tanoka Beard (13 points), Andrei Kirilenko (10 points), Jiří Zídek Jr. (10 points), Nikos Oikonomou (9 points).

( Željko Rebrača, Dino Rađja, Carlton Myers, and Antoine Rigaudeau were selected, but they didn't play in the game.)

Arena: OAKA, Athens

Date: December 27, 2000

Season: 2000–01

Score: Cancelled due to the FIBA–EuroLeague dispute

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]

Arena: OAKA, Athens

Date: June 30, 2007

Season: 2006–07

Score: Greek NT 101 – FIBA European Selection 90^[6]

June 30, 2007

Greek NT	101–90	FIBA European Selection
Scoring by quarter: 22–19, 58–43, 81–65, 101–90
Pts: Fotsis 20		Pts: Van Den Spiegel 14

OAKA, Athens Attendance: 12,000

Greek National Team:

• Theo Papaloukas
• Nikos Zisis
• Vassilis Spanoulis
• Panos Vasilopoulos
• Antonis Fotsis
• Nikos Chatzivrettas
• Dimos Dikoudis
• Kostas Tsartsaris
• Dimitris Diamantidis
• Lazaros Papadopoulos
• Michalis Kakiouzis
• Ioannis Bourousis
• Head Coach: Panagiotis Giannakis
• Assistant Coach: Lefteris Kakiousis

FIBA European Selection:

• Dror Hagag
  (Point guard, Hapoel Jerusalem)
• Vladimir Boisa
  (Forward, Siena)
• Sani Bečirovič
  (Guard, Panathianikos )
• Iñaki de Miguel
  (Center, Málaga)
• Adam Wójcik
  (Center, Prokom)
• Pascal Roller
  (Guard, Bellia)
• Tomas Van Den Spiegel
  (Center, CSKA Moscow)
• Raitis Grafs
  (Center, ASK Riga)
• Aleksey Savrasenko
  (Center, CSKA Moscow)
• İbrahim Kutluay
  (Guard, Fenerbahçe Ülker)
• Nikola Vujčić
  (Center, Maccabi Tel Aviv)
• Vitaly Fridzon
  (Forward, Khimki Moscow Region)
• Marko Popović
  (Guard, Žalgiris Kaunas)
• Andrea Pecile
  (Guard, Granada)
• Coach: Željko Obradović (Panathinaikos)
• Coach: Carlo Recalcati (Italy)

( Dejan Bodiroga, Peja Stojaković, Felipe Reyes (FIBA European Selection),^[7] and Sofoklis Schortsanitis (Greek NT)^[8] were also selected, but they didn't play in the game.)

Top scorers: Greek NT:

• Antonis Fotsis (20 points)
• Ioannis Bourousis (16 points)
• Theo Papaloukas (14 points)
• Nikos Zisis (10 points)
• Nikos Chatzivrettas (10 points)

Top scorers: FIBA European Selection:

• Tomas Van Den Spiegel (14 points)
• Adam Wójcik (10 points)
• İbrahim Kutluay (10 points)
• Andrea Pecile (8 points)
• Nikola Vujčić (8 points)

Scoresheet :
Greek NT: Papaloukas (14 points), Zisis (10 points), Spanoulis (6 points), Vasilopoulos (4 points), Fotsis (20 points), Chatzivrettas (10 points), Dikoudis (4 points), Tsartsaris (9 points), Diamantidis (0 points), Papadopoulos (4 points), Kakiouzis (4 points), Bourousis (16 points).

FIBA European Selection:

Hagag (4 points), Boisa (4 points), Bečirovič (6 points), Pecile (8 points), De Miguel (5 points), Wójcik (10 points), Roller (4 points), Van Den Spiegel (14 points), Grafs (5 points), Savrasenko (5 points), Kutluay (10 points), Fridzon (7 points), Popović (0 points), Vujčić (8 points).

At the 2007 FIBA EuroStars Game, FIBA honored Sergei Belov, Antonello Riva, Doron Jamchi, Dejan Bodiroga, Vladimir Tkachenko, and Vlade Divac, who was not present at the event,^[9][10] as they were selected to the FIBA All-Time EuroStars Team.

Position	FIBA All-Time EuroStars Team	Playing Career
G	Sergei Belov	1964–1980
G	Antonello Riva	1977–2004
F	Doron Jamchi	1978–2000
F	Dejan Bodiroga	1989–2007
C	Vladimir Tkachenko & Vlade Divac	1974–1990 & 1983–2005

• Player nationalities listed by national team affiliation.

Player	Number Of Selections	Years Selected
İbrahim Kutluay	4×	1996, 1998, 1999, 2007
Dejan Bodiroga	4×	1997, 1998, 1999, 2007
David Rivers	4×	1996, 1997, 1998, 1999
Antoine Rigaudeau	4×	1996, 1997, 1998, 1999
Nikos Oikonomou	4×	1996, 1997, 1998, 1999
Željko Rebrača	4×	1996, 1997, 1998, 1999
Petar Naumoski	3×	1996, 1997, 1998
Dragan Tarlać	3×	1996, 1998, 1999
Carlton Myers	3×	1996, 1998, 1999
Marko Milič	3×	1996, 1998, 1999
Dino Rađja	3×	1997, 1998, 1999
Vasily Karasev	3×	1997, 1998, 1999
Artūras Karnišovas	3×	1997, 1998, 1999
Peja Drobnjak	2×	1996, 1997
Sergei Bazarevich	2×	1996, 1997
Zoran Savić	2×	1996, 1997
Conrad McRae	2×	1996, 1998
Sasha Danilović	2×	1997, 1998
Wendell Alexis	2×	1997, 1998
Alberto Herreros	2×	1997, 1998
Oded Kattash	2×	1997, 1999
Gregor Fučka	2×	1997, 1999
Andrea Meneghin	2×	1998, 1999
Tanoka Beard	2×	1998, 1999

• Coach nationalities listed by national team affiliation.

Coach	Number Of Selections	Years Selected
Dušan Ivković	2×	1996, 1997
Carlo Recalcati	2×	1999, 2007
Lolo Sainz	1	1996
Ettore Messina	1	1997
Stanislav Yeryomin	1	1998
Svetislav Pešić	1	1998
Alexander Gomelsky	1	1999
Panagiotis Giannakis	1	2007
Željko Obradović	1	2007
Lefteris Kakiousis	1	2007

• FIBA All-Star Games
• FIBA EuroCup All-Star Day

• FIBA EuroStars @ FIBA Europe
• 2007 FIBA EuroStars Game @ YouTube