By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
The game will feature the team that the late, great scorer played for in his final season, VL Basketball Pesaro, hosting 7DAYS EuroCup squad Grissin Bon Reggio Emilia. At its conclusion, the game’s MVP will be awarded a specially commissioned replica of the Alphonso Ford Top Scorer Trophy by EuroLeague Basketball representative and 7DAYS EuroCup Media Manager Andrea Bassani. The Ford Trophy, named in memory of the scoring legend, is given at the conclusion of each Turkish Airlines EuroLeague season to the competition’s best scorer.
Ford was still at the height of his powers when he passed away prematurely from leukemia on September 4, 2004. His total of 1,200 points over 54 EuroLeague games with Greek sides Peristeri and Olympiacos Piraeus and Italy’s Montepaschi Siena gives him the best scoring average in EuroLeague history, 22.2 points per game. Ford scored 35 points in his first EuroLeague game, a road win against Estudiantes, and later in that 2000-01 season, the EuroLeague’s first, he poured in 41 points in a playoff game against Tau Ceramica, which remains tied for the best single-game scoring effort in competition history. He led the league in scoring after both the 2000-01 and 2001-02 seasons, was chosen to the All-EuroLeague First Team in 2001 and 2003, and made the All-EuroLeague Second Team in 2002. Ford scored in double digits in every EuroLeague game he took part in.
Even with his leukemia at an advanced stage, Ford played the 2003–04 season with Scavolini and averaged 22.2 points per game in the Italian League. Ford helped the team to a fourth-place finish in Italy, which was good enough to send Pesaro back to the EuroLeague for the 2004-05 season. Shortly after announcing his retirement in the summer of 2004, Ford passed away at age 32. Euroleague Basketball chose to honor his memory by introducing the Ford Trophy. The first winner was Charles Smith, who replaced Ford at Pesaro for the 2004-05 season. In an emotional awards ceremony at the 2005 EuroLeague Final Four in Moscow, Russia, Smith received the first Ford Trophy from Alphonso’s widow, Paula. Ford was survived by his wife Paula, their daughter Quekenshia, and their sons Karlderek, Alphonso, Jr. and Cortez Freeman. In 2016, Alphonso Ford Jr. presented that season’s award to Nando De Colo of CSKA Moscow at the Final Four in Berlin.
Ford was a scoring wizard at every place he played. His 3,165 points over 109 games during his four years at Mississippi Valley State University are the fourth-most in NCAA history. After a short stint in the NBA, he played professionally in Europe from 1995 to 2004 for clubs in Spain, Greece and Italy.
“This acknowledgment from Euroleague Basketball is a deep honor for me and our club,” VL Basketball Pesaro president Ario Costa said. “We are grateful to Jordi Bertomeu and Andrea Bassani for this. All of this represents the right acknowledgment to a fantastic person and a great player that will not be forgotten in Pesaro and the whole world.”
Source: EuroLeague