Ariel McDonald

Player information
Ariel McDonald

Full name	Ariel Rene McDonald
birthday	January 13, 1972
place of birth	Harvey (IL), USA
size	191 cm
position	Point guard
college	Minnesota
Clubs as active
1994–1995 Castors Braine 1995–1996 Interier Krško 1996–1999 Olimpija Ljubljana 1999–2002 Maccabi Tel Aviv 2002–2004 Panathinaikos Athens 2004–2005 MBK Dynamo Moscow 2005–2008 CB Girona 2008 MBK Dynamo Moscow 2008–2009 Montepaschi SienaBelgium Slovenia Slovenia Israel Greece Russia Spain 00000Russia Italy
National team
2000-2002	Slovenia

Ariel Rene McDonald (born January 13, 1972 in Harvey , Illinois ) is a former American - Slovenian basketball player . During his stints in Europe he won eight national championships and two European cups . In 1997, the US-born citizen also got Slovenian citizenship and took part in the 2001 European Championship finals for his adopted home .

Career

Beginnings

McDonald first played in college with the Minnesota Golden Gophers , with whom he won the 1993 National Invitation Tournament . The following year he went to Europe and signed his first professional contract with Castors Braine from Belgium. The following season he played for a small Slovenian club called Interier Krško , where he was finally discovered by the Slovenian series champion Olimpija Ljubljana and placed under contract in 1996.

Careers in Europe

At Olimpija, McDonalds celebrated its first major successes between 1996 and 1999. With his team he won the double three times in a row, consisting of the Slovenian championship and the Slovenian cup. In 1997, his team was third in the national championship cup . For the 1999/2000 season McDonald moved to Israel to Maccabi Tel Aviv , where he was able to win the double three times in a row. In the 2000/01 season he even celebrated the triple with Maccabi . In addition to the national titles, championship and cup, he also won the FIBA Suproleague . With his 21 points and 9 assists , McDonald was the match winner in the final against Panathinaikos Athens and was elected MVP of the " Final Four " tournament. A year earlier he had failed with Maccabi in the final of the National Champion Cup against the same opponent. At the finals of the 2001 European basketball championship , McDonald and the Slovenian national team lost at the start against former European runner-up Spain , but then won the preliminary game against hosts Turkey . Instead of the expected entry into the second round, however, there was a disappointing defeat after extra time against Latvia . After the elimination, McDonald was still active for individual qualifying games for the following European Championship, but otherwise remained without a commitment for Slovenia.

After very successful years in Tel Aviv, Ariel McDonald was signed in 2002 by Panathinaikos Athens, another top club in European basketball. In Greece, McDonald won the national league twice and the cup once. After two seasons he moved to MBK Dynamo Moscow , where he did not play successfully and left the club after one season for Spain. Akasvayu Girona was the name of his new club, with which McDonald won the FIBA Eurocup in 2007 . He was also named MVP of the Final Four in this competition. In the following year they reached the "Final Eight" final tournament in the ULEB Cup 2007/08 and defeated the highly regarded team from McDonald's former club Dynamo Moscow in the semifinals, which was coached by Svetislav Pešić , who led Girona to the FIBA EuroCup triumph the previous year would have. In the 81:78 victory, McDonald converted the decisive free throws into the final seconds. In the final, they were clearly defeated by the national competitor Joventut de Badalona . Then McDonald was brought back to Moscow by Dynamo, where he was trained by David Blatt , with whom he had already worked at Maccabi Tel Aviv. The "veteran" McDonald hardly got any playing time in Dynamo's star ensemble around his Slovenian national team colleague Boštjan neighbor , who had come to Dynamo for a lucrative contract from the NBA , and the contract was terminated prematurely. At the end of his career, McDonald was once again brought out of early retirement at the end of December 2008 by Montepaschi Siena , where he could no longer match his performance of previous years, but at the end of his career won the double in Italy again while in the Quarter-final play-offs of the most important European club competition ULEB Euroleague 2008/09 lost to McDonald’s former club Panathinaikos Athens, which subsequently won this competition.

Name dispute

During his time at Maccabi Tel Aviv, an American " fast food " provider made television commercials with McDonald in Israel under the slogan "Listen to McDonald - only Burger King". The rival company McDonald’s then published an excerpt from an older interview in which Ariel McDonald admitted that he also used his last name to eat in the company's restaurants. Both parties finally filed lawsuits against each other, with the Supreme Court of Israel ultimately ruling on a deliberate infringement of the McDonald's trademark by Ariel McDonald.

successes

International

Winner of the FIBA Suproleague with Maccabi Tel Aviv (2001)
Vice winner European Cup with Maccabi Tel Aviv (2000)
Winner FIBA Eurocup with CB Girona (2007)
Vice ULEB Cup with CB Girona (2008)

National

2 × Greek Master with Panathinaikos Athens (2003, 2004)
Greek Cup Winner (2003)
3 × Israeli champion with Maccabi Tel Aviv (2000, 2001, 2002)
3 × Israeli Cup winners (2000, 2001, 2002)
3 × Slovenian champion with Olimpija Ljubljana (1997, 1998, 1999)
3 × Slovenian cup winners (1997, 1998, 1999)
Italian champion 2009
Italian cup winner 2009

Awards

FIBA Suproleague Final Four MVP (2001)
ULEB Euroleague 2nd All-Star Team (2002)
FIBA EuroCup Final Four MVP (2007)

Web links

McDonald, Ariel - Statistics on the websites of the ULEB (English)
Players - Ariel Rene McDonald (SLO). archive.fiba.com - Overview of participation in FIBA tournaments (English)

Individual evidence

^ Arriel McDonald MVP of the SuproLeague Final Four. FIBA Europa , May 13, 2001, accessed April 13, 2013 .
↑ ACB.COM: A. McDonald. Liga ACB , accessed April 13, 2013 (Spanish, player profile).
↑ McDonald Shoots Girona To Title. FIBA Europa , April 15, 2007, accessed April 13, 2013 .
↑ Dynamo Moscow vs. Akasvayu Girona: Semi-Final Game 1 - April 12, 2008 - Report. ULEB , April 12, 2008, accessed April 13, 2013 (match report).
↑ Dynamo Moscow brings back Arriel McDonald. ULEB , July 7, 2008, accessed April 13, 2013 .
↑ Legabasket: Arriel McDonald. Lega Basket Serie A , accessed on April 13, 2013 (Italian, player profile on statistics pages).
↑ SC protects McDonald's Corp brand name. World Patent & Trademark News ^TM / WPTN.com, 2004, accessed April 13, 2013 (English judgment summary).

personal data
SURNAME	McDonald, Ariel
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	McDonald, Arriel; McDonald, Ariel Rene (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	American-Slovenian basketball player
DATE OF BIRTH	January 13, 1972
PLACE OF BIRTH	Harvey (Illinois) , USA

[1] Arriel McDonald MVP of the SuproLeague Final Four. FIBA Europa , May 13, 2001, accessed April 13, 2013 .

[2] ACB.COM: A. McDonald. Liga ACB , accessed April 13, 2013 (Spanish, player profile).

[3] McDonald Shoots Girona To Title. FIBA Europa , April 15, 2007, accessed April 13, 2013 .

[4] Dynamo Moscow vs. Akasvayu Girona: Semi-Final Game 1 - April 12, 2008 - Report. ULEB , April 12, 2008, accessed April 13, 2013 (match report).

[5] Dynamo Moscow brings back Arriel McDonald. ULEB , July 7, 2008, accessed April 13, 2013 .

[6] Legabasket: Arriel McDonald. Lega Basket Serie A , accessed on April 13, 2013 (Italian, player profile on statistics pages).

[7] SC protects McDonald's Corp brand name. World Patent & Trademark News ^TM / WPTN.com, 2004, accessed April 13, 2013 (English judgment summary).