History
The Israeli Basketball Super League started in 1954, and Maccabi Tel Aviv was the first champion. It has dominated the championship ever since, winning the title 50 times, including a run of 23 titles in a row between 1970 and 1992. The team has also won the Israeli Basketball State Cup 39 times. Maccabi is considered Israel's national sporting representative in the world.
From 1969 until 2008, Maccabi Tel Aviv was sponsored by Elite, Israel's largest food company, and carried its name. Since July 2008, Maccabi has had a new sponsor – Electra.
Since 1963, the club's home court has been the Yad Eliyahu Arena in the Yad Eliyahu neighbourhood of Tel Aviv. It started as an open air court for 5,000 spectators. Currently, it is a modern arena with a capacity of 11,700.
Most Maccabi head coaches have been former players of the club. Yehoshua Rozin was involved with the club for 40 years. Ralph Klein started as an 18-year-old player and later had several spells as a coach, and led the club to its first European title in 1977. Zvi Sherf played for Maccabi's second team, and coached the team for three spells. Pini Gershon played in the Youth Section, and as a coach led Maccabi to three European titles; in 2001, 2004, and 2005.
Maccabi Tel Aviv has always provided the national team with a large number of players. Five Maccabi players, headed by Avraham Shneur, were on the team that represented Israel in its first European Championship, in 1953 in Moscow.
Tanhum Cohen-Mintz was one of Europe's top centers in the sixties, and was selected for the first European All Star Team which played in Madrid in 1964. Mickey Berkowitz, Motty Aroesti, Lou Silver, and Eric Minkin played a major part in winning the silver medal in the European Championship in 1979 in Torino. Doron Jamchy played 16 years for the national team, and holds the record for appearances (191 international games) and points scored (3,515).
Five Maccabi players are members of the national team: Tal Burstein, Yaniv Green, Guy Pnini, Lior Eliyahu, and David Blu.
Maccabi Tel Aviv was the first Israeli club to enter the European Cup for Champions in 1958. Since then, it has played over 600 games in European competitions, and was the only Israeli club to play in a Final (1967 Cup Winners Cup) and to win the Champions Cup on five occasions (1977, 1981, 2001, 2004, and 2005). Maccabi has played in 14 Champions Cup Finals (1977, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1987, 1988, 1989, 2000, 2001, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008 and 2011). In 1994 and 2004, Maccabi organized the European Final Four in Tel Aviv.
The first basketball game between an NBA and an FIBA team was held in 1978 in Tel Aviv. Maccabi Tel Aviv beat the defending NBA champion Washington Bullets, 98–97.
Maccabi has played a record 18 times vs. NBA teams, and became the first European team to win on an NBA floor when it beat Toronto, 105–103, in 2005. It also beat the Suns and Nets in 1984, to win a tournament in Tel Aviv.
Read more about this topic: Maccabi Tel Aviv B.C.
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