1997 in basketball

The following are the basketball events of the year 1997 throughout the world.

Championships

Professional

• Men
  • 1997 NBA Finals: Chicago Bulls over the Utah Jazz 4-2. MVP: Michael Jordan
    • 1997 NBA Playoffs
    • 1996–97 NBA season
    • 1997 NBA draft
    • 1997 NBA All-Star Game
  • Eurobasket: Yugoslavia 61, Italy 49
• Women
  • WNBA Finals: Houston Comets over the New York Liberty. MVP: Cynthia Cooper
    • 1997 WNBA Playoffs
    • 1997 WNBA season
    • 1997 WNBA draft
  • Eurobasket Women: Lithuania def. Slovakia

College

• Men
  • NCAA
    • Division I: University of Arizona 84, University of Kentucky 79
    • National Invitation Tournament: University of Michigan def. Florida State University
    • Division II: Cal State Bakersfield 57, Northern Kentucky University 56
    • Division III: Illinois Wesleyan University 89, Nebraska Wesleyan University 86
  • 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
    • Division I: University of Tennessee 68, Old Dominion University 59
    • Division II: North Dakota State University 94, University of Southern Indiana 78
    • Division III New York University 72, University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire 70
  • 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

Bloomington North defeats Delta to win Indiana's last open-class basketball state championship.

Awards and honors

Professional

• Men
  • NBA Most Valuable Player Award: Karl Malone
  • NBA Rookie of the Year Award: Allen Iverson
  • NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award: Dikembe Mutombo
  • NBA Coach of the Year Award: Pat Riley, Miami Heat
• 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

• 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

Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame

• Class of 1997:^[2]
  • Pete Carril
  • Joan Crawford
  • Denise Curry
  • Antonio Díaz-Miguel
  • Alex English
  • Don Haskins
  • Bailey Howell

Events

• WNBA played its first season.

Movies

• Air Bud
• The Sixth Man

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

• Timeline of women's basketball