UEFA Euro 2012 in October 2011, the nine group winners qualified automatically, along with the highest ranked second placed team. The remaining eight-second placed teams contested two-legged play-offs, and the four winners qualified for the finals. Twelve of the sixteen finalists participated at the previous tournament in 2008. England and Denmark made their return to the Euro, having last participated in 2004, while Republic of Ireland returned after a twenty-four-year absence to make their second appearance at a European Championship. One of the co-hosts, Ukraine, made their debut as an independent nation (before 1992 Ukraine participated as part of the Soviet Union). With
2012 NBA Finals and Ronny Turiaf, who was a member of the Los Angeles Lakers team that lost in the Finals to the Boston Celtics in . This was the Thunder's first NBA Finals appearance since the team relocated from Seattle in 2008. Including their seasons as the Seattle SuperSonics, this was also the club's fourth Finals appearance, and first since , when they lost to the Michael Jordan-led Chicago Bulls. The team was seeking their first NBA championship since . The Thunder finished with 47 wins, second in the Western Conference. During the playoffs, they defeated the defending champion Dallas Mavericks (4–0),