Maccabi Tel Aviv has been the destination for many basketball greats. Occasioned by the team’s 90th anniversary, the fans voted the club’s all-time starting five.
In Maccabi’s IG, a bracket was created for each position, from the quarterfinals to the finals. Then, eight players “competed” in the bracket, where fans decided the winner in every position.
At the point guard position, Sarunas Jasikevicius beat Oded Kattash. The EuroLeague legend arrived in Israel in 2003 and led the team to two consecutive EuroLeague titles forming a formidable team that dominated its opponents these two seasons.
At shooting guard, legendary Mickey Berkowitz defeated Derrick Sharp. Berkowitz played 16 seasons for Maccabi and won numerous titles with the “Yellow and Blue”. He rose to prominence at the age of 17, and soon became the undisputed star of the team and the Israeli national team.
Mickey led the EuroLeague giants to two European Championship victories and four more finals appearances, sweeping no less than 16 championships, 13 state trophies and one intercontinental trophy.
At small forward, Anthony Parker beat David Blue. In his five seasons at Yad Eliyahu, in two different terms, Parker brought to the parquet qualities that were at times reminiscent of huge NBA stars. He won three European Championships with Maccabi and was named MVP of the EuroLeague twice.
At power forward, Omri Casspi defeated Kevin Maggie. Although Omri Casspi is the only player on the list who did not win the European Championship with Maccabi, he did make history as the first Israeli player to play in the NBA.
After several years in the NBA, Casspi returned to his beloved Maccabi for two seasons adding two Israeli championship titles and one Cup in his trophy case.
At center position, Sofoklis Schortsianitis beat Nikola Vucijic. In two different terms, Big Sofo played a huge role in Maccabi’s success in the early 2010s. For his effort, Sofo won the European Championship with Maccabi in 2014, leaving a mark that will remain forever in club’s history.
David Blatt was voted over Ralph Klein for the head coach position. Blatt made history with the Israeli giants by winning one of the toughest EuroLeague Final-Fours ever with victories over CSKA Moscow and Real Madrid. Blatt went to coach LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers following his success in Europe.
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