2006 in basketball

The following are the basketball events of the year 2006 throughout the world.  

Tournaments include international (FIBA), professional (club) and amateur and collegiate levels.

Championships

International

• 2006 FIBA World Championship:
  • Gold medal: Spain
  • Silver medal: Greece
  • Bronze medal: USA
  • MVP: Pau Gasol, Spain
  • All-tournament team:
    • Pau Gasol
    • Carmelo Anthony (USA)
    • Jorge Garbajosa (Spain)
    • Manu Ginóbili (Argentina)
    • Theodoros Papaloukas (Greece)
• 2006 FIBA World Championship for Women
  • Gold medal: Australia
  • Silver medal: Russia
  • Bronze medal: USA
  • MVP: Penny Taylor, Australia
• Basketball at the 2006 Asian Games
  • Men's tournament:
    • Gold medal: China
    • Silver medal: Qatar
    • Bronze medal: Iran
  • Women's tournament:
    • Gold medal: China
    • Silver medal: Chinese Taipei
    • Bronze medal: Japan

Professional

Men

• NBA season and playoffs:
  • 2006 NBA Finals: Miami Heat 4, Dallas Mavericks 2. MVP: Dwyane Wade
• Euroleague (Europe-wide):
  • CSKA Moscow defeated Maccabi Tel Aviv 73-69 in the final
• Croatian League:
  • Cibona defeated Zadar 2-1 in the best-of-three finals
• French League:
  • Le Mans defeated Nancy 93-88 in the one-off final
• German Bundesliga:
  • RheinEnergie Köln defeated ALBA Berlin 3-1 in the best-of-five finals
• Greek League:
  • Panathinaikos defeated Olympiakos 3-0 in the best-of-five finals
• Iranian Super League, 2005-06 season:
  • Saba Battery defeat Petrochimi 3–0 in the best-of-five final.
• Israel Premier League:
  • Maccabi Tel Aviv defeated Hapoel Jerusalem 96-66 in the one-off final (the first such final in Israel history)
• Italian Serie A:
  • Benetton Treviso defeated Climamio Bologna 3-1 in the best-of-five finals
• Lithuanian LKL:
  • Lietuvos Rytas defeated Žalgiris 4-0 in the best-of-seven finals
• Philippine Basketball Association 2005-06 season:
  • Red Bull Barako over the Purefoods Chunkee Giants 4-2 in the Fiesta Conference Finals. Finals MVP: Lordy Tugade
  • Purefoods Chunkee Giants over Red Bull Barako 4-2 in the Philippine Cup Finals. Finals MVP: Marc Pingris
• Polish League:
  • Prokom Trefl Sopot over Anwil Włocławek 4-1 in the best-of-seven finals
• Russian Super League:
  • CSKA Moscow over Khimki 3-0 in the best-of-five finals
• Serbia and Montenegro Super League:
  • Partizan over Red Star 3-0 in the best-of-five finals
• Spanish ACB:
  • Unicaja Málaga over TAU Cerámica 3-0 in the best-of-five finals
    • 2005-06 season, 2005-06 playoffs
• Turkish Basketball League:
  • Ülkerspor over Efes Pilsen 4-0 in the best-of-seven finals. Only three matches were actually played; under Turkish rules, Ülker was granted a 1-0 lead by virtue of its regular-season sweep of Efes.
• British Basketball League:
  • Newcastle Eagles defeated Scottish Rocks 83-68 in the one-off final
• Adriatic League:
  • FMP defeated Partizan 73-72 in the one-off final

Women

• 2006 WNBA Finals: Detroit Shock 3, Sacramento Monarchs 2
  • MVP: Deanna Nolan, Detroit

College

• Men
  • NCAA
    • Division I: Florida 73, UCLA 57
    • National Invitation Tournament: South Carolina 76, Michigan 64
    • Division II: Winona State 73, Virginia Union 61
    • Division III: Virginia Wesleyan 59, Wittenberg 56
  • NAIA
    • NAIA Division I: Texas Wesleyan 67, Oklahoma City 65
    • NAIA Division II: University of the Ozarks (Mo.) 74, Huntington (Ind.) 56
  • NJCAA
    • Division I: Arkansas-Ft. Smith 68, Tallahassee CC (FL) 59
    • Division II: Cecil CC 9 (MD) 64, Kirkwood CC (IA) 63
    • Division III: North Lake College (TX) 78, Gloucester County College (N.J.) 65
  • UAAP Men's: University of Santo Tomas over Ateneo de Manila University, 2 games to 1
  • NCAA (Philippines) Seniors': San Beda College over Philippine Christian University, 2 games to 1

Hope College women's team raises 2006 NCAA Division III championship trophy.

• Women
  • NCAA
    • Division I: Maryland 78, Duke 75 OT
    • WNIT Kansas State 77, Marquette 65
    • Division II: Grand Valley State 58, American International 52
    • Division III Hope 69, Southern Maine 56
  • NAIA
    • NAIA Division I: Union (TN) 79, Lubbock Christian (TX) 62
    • NAIA Division II Hastings (Neb.)58, University of the Ozarks (Mo.) 39
  • NJCAA
    • Division I: Monroe CC (Rochester, NY) 76, Odessa College (TX) 64
    • Division II: Illinois Central College 71, Kirkwood CC (IA) 54
    • Division III: Monroe College (Bronx, NY) 100, Mohawk Valley CC (NY) 70
  • UAAP Women's: University of Santo Tomas over Far Eastern University, 2 games to 1

Prep

• USA Today Boys Basketball Ranking #1: Lawrence North High School, Indianapolis, Indiana
• USA Today Girls Basketball Ranking #1: Christ the King, Queens, New York
• NCAA (Philippines) Juniors: San Sebastian Recoletos High School over Philippine Christian University Union High School, 2 games to 0
• UAAP Juniors: Ateneo de Manila High School over Far Eastern University-Nicanor Reyes Educational Foundation, 2 games to 1

Awards and honors

Professional

• Men
  • NBA Most Valuable Player Award: Steve Nash
  • NBA Rookie of the Year Award: Chris Paul
  • NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award: Ben Wallace
  • NBA Coach of the Year Award: Avery Johnson
  • FIBA Europe Player of the Year Award: Theodoros Papaloukas, CSKA Moscow and  Greece
  • Euroscar Award: Dirk Nowitzki, Dallas Mavericks and  Germany
  • Mr. Europa: Jorge Garbajosa, Toronto Raptors and  Spain (also Unicaja Málaga)
• Women
  • WNBA Most Valuable Player Award: Lisa Leslie
  • WNBA Defensive Player of the Year Award: Tamika Catchings
  • WNBA Rookie of the Year Award: Seimone Augustus
  • WNBA Coach of the Year Award: Mike Thibault
  • FIBA Europe Player of the Year Award: Maria Stepanova, CSKA Samara and  Russia

Collegiate

• Naismith College Player of the Year
  • Men: J. J. Redick, Duke
  • Women: Seimone Augustus, LSU
• John R. Wooden Award
  • Men: J. J. Redick, Duke
  • Women: Seimone Augustus, LSU
• Naismith College Coach of the Year
  • Men: Jay Wright, Villanova
  • Women: Sylvia Hatchell, North Carolina
• Women's awards:
  • Wade Trophy: Seimone Augustus, LSU
  • Nancy Lieberman Award: Ivory Latta, North Carolina

Events

• December 13- after a few months in use and complaints from players, the NBA announces it will disuse the new synthetic ball in favor of the classic leather one.
• December 16- a brawl erupted at the Madison Square Garden game between the New York Knicks and the Denver Nuggets.

Movies

• Church Ball
• Crossover (film)
• The Heart of the Game
• Glory Road (film)

Deaths

• February 11 — Harry Vines, American wheelchair basketball coach (b. 1938)
• March 17 — Ray Meyer Hall of Fame coach of the DePaul University men's team (b. 1913)
• April 30 — Harold "Bunny" Levitt, player for the Harlem Globetrotters who once sank 499 consecutive free throws
• April 28 — Ron Mather, Scottish coach
• April 6 — Maggie Dixon, women's coach at Army (b. 1977)
• May 6 — Bob Dro, national champion at Indiana and Indianapolis Kautskys player (b. 1918)
• May 9 — Grady Wallace, All-American and national scoring champion at South Carolina
• July 3 — Dick Dickey, NBA player and All-American at NC State (b. 1926)
• August 17 — Bob Rogers, former Texas A&M coach
• October 28 — Arnold "Red" Auerbach, Hall of Fame coach and president of the Boston Celtics (b. 1917)
• November 29 — Gary Alcorn, Former Detroit Pistons and Los Angeles Lakers player (b. 1936)
• December 12 — Paul Arizin, Hall of Famer for the Philadelphia Warriors who twice led the NBA in scoring (b. 1928)
• December 13 — Lamar Hunt, Last remaining original ownership partner of the Chicago Bulls (b. 1932)

External links

Media related to 2006 in basketball at Wikimedia Commons