# 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
*** 2006 NBA draft
*** 2006 NBA All-Star Game
* 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
*** 2006 WNBA season
*** 2006 WNBA Playoffs
*** 2006 WNBA draft
*** 2006 WNBA All-Star Game
** 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: College 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
* 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, College of the Ozarks (Mo.) 39
** NJCAA
*** Division I: Monroe CC (Rochester, New York) 76, Odessa College (TX) 64
*** Division II: Illinois Central College 71, Kirkwood CC (IA) 54
*** Division III: Monroe College (Bronx, New York) 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
### Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame

* Class of 2006:
** Geno Auriemma
** Charles Barkley
** Joe Dumars
** Alessandro "Sandro" Gamba
** Dave Gavitt
** Jacques Dominique Wilkins

### Women's Basketball Hall of Fame

* Class of 2006
** Geno Auriemma
** Maria Paula Gonçalves da Silva
** Clarissa Davis-Wrightsil
** Janice Lawrence Braxton
** Katrina McClain Johnson
** Barbara Stevens

### 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, Los Angeles Sparks
** WNBA Defensive Player of the Year Award: Tamika Catchings, Indiana Fever
** WNBA Rookie of the Year Award: Seimone Augustus, Minnesota Lynx
** WNBA Most Improved Player Award: Erin Buescher, Sacramento Monarchs
** Kim Perrot Sportsmanship Award: Dawn Staley, Houston Comets
** WNBA Coach of the Year Award: Mike Thibault, Connecticut Sun
** WNBA Finals Most Valuable Player Award: Deanna Nolan, Detroit Shock
** FIBA Europe Player of the Year Award: Maria Stepanova, CSKA Samara and Russia

### Collegiate

* Combined
** Legends of Coaching Award: Jim Boeheim, Syracuse
* Men
** John R. Wooden Award: J. J. Redick, Duke
** Naismith College Coach of the Year: Jay Wright, Villanova
** Frances Pomeroy Naismith Award: Dee Brown, Illinois
** Associated Press College Basketball Player of the Year: J. J. Redick, Duke
** NCAA basketball tournament Most Outstanding Player: Corey Brewer, Florida
** USBWA National Freshman of the Year: Tyler Hansbrough, North Carolina
** Associated Press College Basketball Coach of the Year: Roy Williams (coach), North Carolina
** Naismith Outstanding Contribution to Basketball: Jerry Colangelo
* Women
** John R. Wooden Award: Seimone Augustus, LSU
** Naismith College Player of the Year: Seimone Augustus, LSU
** Naismith College Coach of the Year: Sylvia Hatchell, North Carolina
** Wade Trophy: Seimone Augustus, LSU
** Frances Pomeroy Naismith Award: Megan Duffy, Notre Dame
** Associated Press Women's College Basketball Player of the Year: Seimone Augustus, LSU
** NCAA basketball tournament Most Outstanding Player: Laura Harper, Maryland
** Basketball Academic All-America Team: Lindsay Shearer, Kent State
** Carol Eckman Award: Gail Goestenkors, Duke
** USBWA National Freshman of the Year: Courtney Paris, Oklahoma
** Associated Press College Basketball Coach of the Year: Sylvia Hatchell, North Carolina
** List of Senior CLASS Award women's basketball winners: Seimone Augustus, LSU
** Nancy Lieberman Award: Ivory Latta, North Carolina
** Naismith Outstanding Contribution to Basketball: Val Ackerman

## 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)
* Like Mike 2: Streetball

## Deaths

* February 11 — Harry Vines, American wheelchair basketball coach (born 1938)
* March 17 — Ray Meyer, American Hall of Fame coach of the DePaul University men's team (born 1913)
* April 6 — Maggie Dixon, women's coach at Army (born 1977)
* April 6 — Price Brookfield, American NBA player (born 1920)
* April 19 — Gene Rosenthal, American NBL player (Pittsburgh Pirates) (born 1914)
* May 6 — Bob Dro, national champion at Indiana and Indianapolis Kautskys player (born 1918)
* May 9 — Grady Wallace, All-American and national scoring champion at South Carolina
* May 18 — Irving Meretsky, Canadian Olympic silver medalist (1936) (born 1912)
* July 3 — Dick Dickey, NBA player and All-American at NC State (born 1926)
* July 4 — Bobby Joe Mason, Harlem Globetrotters player and college All-American at Bradley (born 1936)
* July 21 — Alexander Petrenko, Russian player (BC Khimki) (born 1976)
* August 18 — Dick Hickox, American college All-American (Miami Hurricanes) (born 1938)
* September 7 — Ozell Jones, American NBA player (San Antonio Spurs, Los Angeles Clippers) (born 1960)
* October 5 — Cleveland Buckner, American NBA player (New York Knicks) (born 1938)
* October 5 — George King, American NBA player (Syracuse Nationals, Cincinnati Royals) and college coach (West Virginia, Purdue) (born 1928)
* October 25 — Johnny Hoekstra, American NBL player (Kankakee Gallagher Trojans) (born 1917)
* October 28 — Arnold "Red" Auerbach, Hall of Fame coach and president of the Boston Celtics (born 1917)
* November 9 — Mikhail Semyonov, Russian (Soviet) Olympic Silver medalist (1956, 1960) (born 1933)
* November 29 — Gary Alcorn, American NBA player (Detroit Pistons, Los Angeles Lakers) (born 1936)
* December 12 — Paul Arizin, Hall of Famer for the Philadelphia Warriors who twice led the NBA in scoring (born 1928)
* December 13 — Lamar Hunt, original ownership partner of the Chicago Bulls (born 1932)
* December 21 — Warren Hair, American NBL player (Kankakee Gallagher Trojans) (born 1918)
* December 29 — Charlie Tyra, All-American college (Louisville) and NBA player (New York Knicks, Chicago Packers) (born 1935)