1997 in basketball
The following are the basketball events of the year 1997 throughout the world.
| Years in basketball | 
|---|
| See also | 
Championships
[edit]Professional
[edit]- Men
- 1997 NBA Finals: Chicago Bulls over the Utah Jazz 4-2. MVP: Michael Jordan
 - Eurobasket: Yugoslavia 61, Italy 49
 
 - Women
 
College
[edit]- Men
- NCAA
 - NAIA
- NAIA Division I: Life University (Ga.) 73, Oklahoma Baptist University 64
 - NAIA Division II: Bethel College (Indiana) (IN) 95, Siena Heights College (MI) 94
 
 - NJCAA
- NJCAA Division I: Indian Hills CC, Ottumwa, Iowa 89, San Jacinto College, (TX) 80
 
 
 - Women
- NCAA
 - NAIA
- NAIA Division I: Southern Nazarene University (OK) 78 Union College (TN) (73)
 - NAIA Division II Northwest Nazarene University (ID) 64, Black Hills State University (SD) 46
 
 - NJCAA[1]
- Division I Trinity Valley CC 79, Central Florida CC 69
 - Division II Kirkwood CC 76, Carl Sandburg College 67
 - Division III Anoka-Ramsey CC 80, Monroe CC 57
 
 
 
Preps
[edit]Bloomington North defeats Delta to win Indiana's last open-class basketball state championship.
Awards and honors
[edit]Professional
[edit]- Men
 - Women
- WNBA Most Valuable Player Award: Cynthia Cooper, Houston Comets
 - WNBA Defensive Player of the Year Award: Teresa Weatherspoon, New York Liberty
 - Kim Perrot Sportsmanship Award: Zheng Haixia, Los Angeles Sparks
 - WNBA Coach of the Year Award: Van Chancellor, Houston Comets
 - WNBA Finals Most Valuable Player Award: Cynthia Cooper, Houston Comets
 
 
Collegiate
[edit]- Men
- John R. Wooden Award: Tim Duncan, Wake Forest
 - Naismith College Coach of the Year: Roy Williams, Kansas
 - Frances Pomeroy Naismith Award: Brevin Knight, Stanford
 - Associated Press College Basketball Player of the Year: Tim Duncan, Wake Forest
 - NCAA basketball tournament Most Outstanding Player: Jeff Sheppard, Kentucky
 - Associated Press College Basketball Coach of the Year: Clem Haskins, Minnesota
 - Naismith Outstanding Contribution to Basketball: Phog Allen
 
 - Women
- Naismith College Player of the Year: Kate Starbird, Stanford
 - Naismith College Coach of the Year: Geno Auriemma, Connecticut
 - Wade Trophy: DeLisha Milton, Florida
 - Frances Pomeroy Naismith Award: Jennifer Howard, NC State
 - Associated Press Women's College Basketball Player of the Year: Kara Wolters, Connecticut
 - NCAA basketball tournament Most Outstanding Player: Chamique Holdsclaw, Tennessee
 - Carol Eckman Award: Amy Ruley, North Dakota State University
 - Associated Press College Basketball Coach of the Year: Geno Auriemma, Connecticut
 
 
- Class of 1997:[2]
 
Events
[edit]- WNBA played its first season.
 
Movies
[edit]Deaths
[edit]- 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
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ "NJCAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL RECORD BOOK" (PDF). NJCAA. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-10-14. Retrieved 10 Oct 2014.
 - ^ "Hall of Famers". Basketball Hall of Fame. Retrieved 12 Oct 2014.
 
External links
[edit]
 Media related to 1997 in basketball at Wikimedia Commons