Moscow, Russia

• Born in Buffalo (as the Braves) and with a brief stop in San Diego, the Clippers have called Los Angeles home for 22 seasons and are coming off their best season with a 47-35 record. The Clippers made it to the Western Conference Semifinals, where they fell to the Phoenix Suns in seven games.
• Led by All-Star Elton Brand and point guard Sam Cassell, the Clippers are looking to notch their first back-to-back winning season in Los Angeles and the first since the franchise resided in Buffalo. And it's quite possible they will do so as the Clippers have a nice mix of youth (Shaun Livingston, Chris Kaman and Quentin Ross) and experience (Brand, Cassell, Corey Maggette and free agent Tim Thomas).
• CSKA stands as the owner of four European club titles, fourth-most of any club and holds 37 domestic titles in the Soviet Union and Russian domestic leagues. CSKA's 25 titles between 1945 and 1990 amounted to more than half of those available in the highly competitive Soviet Union.
• CSKA dominated in the Russian League, winning all nine crowns between 1992 and 2000. On the European level, CSKA has made the Final Four on five occasions in the last decade, including the last three Euroleague seasons.
• CSKA 2004-05 triumphed in the Russian League finals and the Russian Cup earlier, after one of the most amazing seasons in European basketball history. CSKA posted an unprecedented 60-4 overall record, but even with that success rate, was left disappointed by not winning the Euroleague Final Four, held in Moscow. CSKA placed first in the 2005-2006 regular season.
• Khimki Basketball Club was founded in January 1997 and in its first season debuted in the country’s first championship league and consolidated its participation in the Russian Federation’s Basketball Superleague. The following year, Khimki ranked among the top 10 clubs in the nation, progressed to the European Korac Cup, where they beat leading champions Turkey, Yugoslavia, and Bulgaria.
• In the following two seasons, Khimki won seventh place twice in the National Championship. During the 2003-04 season, Khimki conquered their place among national Superleague leaders, winning fifth place, participating in the semifinals of the National Cup, and passed to play in the FIBA-Euroleague quarterfinals.
• Khimki ranked second in the 2005-2006 regular season and will play in next season’s ULEB Cup.


Paris and Lyon, France

• One of the original entrants into the American Basketball Association, the San Antonio Spurs franchise started in Dallas as the Chaparrals before moving to San Antonio before the 1973-74 season and becoming the Spurs.
• San Antonio joined the NBA in the NBA-ABA merger of 1976. In 1999, the Spurs became the first former ABA team to win the NBA title, and have done so twice since, in 2003 and in 2005. Power forward Tim Duncan earned Finals MVP honors in each series.
• At 793-405, the Spurs have the best regular season record in the NBA over the past 15 seasons. Duncan still paces the Spurs, but receives support from one of the most cosmopolitan rosters in the league, which features Tony Parker (France), Manu Ginobili (Argentina) and Beno Udrih (Slovenia) and a three-time Finals winning coach, Gregg Popovich.
• Known at home as the "French Celtics" because of their green uniforms, Adecco ASVEL Lyon Villeurbanne had earned 15 domestic titles in 33 seasons between 1949 and 1981.
• In 2002, ASVEL swept arch-rival Pau-Orthez in the finals to earn its first domestic crown in 12 years. This success carried over to the 2002-03 Euroleague season, where balanced scoring and effective use of the three-point shot propelled the club to the Top 16 of the Euroleague.
• Domestically, ASVEL used its momentum to roll into the French League finals, where it could not overcome the homecourt advantage of Pau Orthez. After a 2003-04 season to forget, the team bounced back by returning to the French league semifinals after missing the playoffs the previous year.
• Maccabi Tel Aviv has won 45 of a possible 51 domestic league titles since 1954, in addition to 35 Israeli Cup trophies. In Europe, Maccabi has won five European club titles and finished second six other times.
• Earning a Suproleague title in 2001, Maccabi's first in 20 years, broke a string of continental title-game appearances that ended without trophies. In 2003-04, a miracle three-pointer helped Maccabi survive the Top 16 that year and has become one of the classic shots in European basketball history. Once in the 2004 Final Four, Maccabi had a remarkable 118-point title game performance.
• In 2004-05 Maccabi had the distinction of being the first team in 14 years to win back-to-back Euroleague titles. Maccabi placed first in the 2005-2006 regular season.


Treviso and Rome, Italy

• Phoenix entered the NBA as an expansion franchise for the 1968-69. Since that first season, the Suns have been a cornerstone NBA franchise and have the league's fourth-best record in the last 15 years (723-475). The Suns have appeared in the NBA Finals twice, 1976 and 1993, losing both series in six games.
• The Suns boast the reigning two-time NBA MVP in Canadian Steve Nash. The Suns' up-tempo style of play, instituted by head coach Mike D'Antoni, keeps fans on the edge of their seats and opponents on their heels. In addition to Nash, the Suns feature Shawn Marion, Amare Stoudemire, Boris Diaw of France and Leandro Barbosa of Brazil.
• Last season, the Suns won their second consecutive Pacific Division title, won a seven-game series against the Lakers, won a seven-game series over the Clippers before losing in six to the Dallas Mavericks.
• Virtus Lottomatica Roma was founded in 1960, Italian champion in 1983 and Euroleague champion in 1984, defeating Barcelona in the finals. Virtus won a Korac Cup title in 1992 by defeating Scavolini in the two-way finals. Roma reached the Korac Cup final in 1993, losing to Adecco Milan in the finals.
• The 2002-03 season was one of best seasons Lottomatica has ever had in the domestic league, 25-9 and a second-place finish in the regular season. Lottomatica made it to the 2003-04 Euroleague and hosted the opening game against Barcelona, but didn’t reach the Top 16.
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Last season, Lottomatica made it to the Italian Cup semifinals and rallied in the final games of the regular season to reach the playoffs and beat Montepaschi Siena to reach the semifinals. With a successful coach and great ambition, Lottomatica Roma will be a top candidate in the ULEB Cup this season. Lottomatica place sixth in the 2005-2006 regular season.


Barcelona, Spain

• One of the original NBA teams, the Philadelphia 76ers franchise was born in Syracuse, N.Y. as the Nationals. Then owner Danny Biasone invented the 24-second clock in 1954, and later that season, the Nationals won their only NBA title in Syracuse.
• The franchise left Syracuse before the 1963 season and relocated to Philadelphia, where the team became the 76ers. Four years later, the Sixers, behind the great Wilt Chamberlain, brought the city it's first NBA title since 1946. In 1983, the Sixers, this time behind another great big man, Moses Malone, rolled to another NBA title. Philadelphia went to the NBA Finals as recently as 2001, where the Sixers lost to the Lakers.
• Led by 2001 NBA MVP Allen Iverson and Chris Webber, the Sixers will be looking for a solid camp and a return to the playoffs in 2007 after finishing 38-44 last season.
• In 2001, Winterthur FC Barcelona celebrated their 75th anniversary and history which includes 19 national cup victories, the first four won way back in the 1940's. Over the years, Barcelona has clinched several European trophies -- such as Saporta Cups in 1985 and 1986 and the Korac Cup in 1987 and 1999 as well as 14 Spanish League titles, all but one of them coming after 1980, and 14 more second-place domestic finishes.
• Winterthur FCB reached the Euroleague Final Four seven times before and lost another continental final in 1984, but finally became the 2003 Euroleague champion. Winterthur FC Barcelona has won seven of the last 11 Spanish League titles, and in the spring of 2003 conquered a triple crown -- victories in the Spanish League, Spanish King's Cup and the Euroleague Final Four. The club's first continental title was won at Palau Saint Jordi in Barcelona.
• Winterthur FCB returned to the Final Four in 2006 but lost to CSKA Moscow in the Semi-Finals 75-84.