Contrary to popular belief, American professional basketball players and Euroleague teams have been fighting it out for the past 20 years in head-to-head competition other than at the Olympics. Back in 1987 the Milwaukee Bucks trounced Tracer Milan of Italy, 123-111, in the opening game of the initial McDonald's Open, held at the Milwaukee Arena. The Bucks crushed the Soviet National Team, 127-100, in the championship game of the tournament sponsored by the NBA and FIBA.

The next year, in the very first McDonald's Championship to be held in Europe, the Boston Celtics beat Real Madrid 111-96 at the Palacio de Deportes in Madrid, Spain.

Also in 1988, the Atlanta Hawks became the first U.S. pro team to compete in the Soviet Union when they edged the Soviet Georgia All-Stars, 85-84, in an exhibition game.

By the third year, the McDonald's Championship was shifted to Rome, Italy. At that venue, the Denver Nuggets represented American professional basketball against the Spanish Champion F.C. Barcelona, the European Champion Jugoplastika Split, and Philips Milan. The Nuggets thumped Barcelona in their tournament opener and went on to beat Jugoplastika Split 135-129 to capture the title.

In 1991 it was the 'city of lights' that was the site for McDonald's Championship. The Los Angeles Lakers traveled to Paris, France to compete against the host team CSP Limoges, Joventut Badalona and Slobodna Dalmacija Split of the former Yugoslavia. With Magic Johnson at the helm, the Lakers defeated CSP Limoges before eking out a win versus Joventut Badalona 116-114 to win the title.

Nineteen ninety-three marked the first pre-season game between two U.S. pro teams ever played in Europe, the Orlando Magic, with 14 fourth-quarter points from Dennis Scott, vanquished the Atlanta Hawks 120-95 before a full crowd of 9,483 at Wembley Arena in the opening of the two-game NBA London Games series.

In 2003, the San Antonio Spurs and the Memphis Grizzlies played an NBA preseason game in Paris, as part of the NBA Europe Games 2003, in front of a capacity crowd of 14,480. The NBA Champion Spurs won 105-93 and Spurs point-guard Tony Parker got a standing ovation when he was awarded the MVP in front of his home crowd. After the aforementioned game, the Memphis Grizzlies traveled to Barcelona where they played local team FC Barcelona on October 10. Memphis prevailed in the game 91-80 and big man Pau Gasol, former player for FC Barcelona, put his many skills on full display.