101 Greats of European Basketball

A mythical
figure lacking
only titles
If a player loses four finals in European competitions
– three of them at the top level – maybe
someone could wonder what that player is doing
in a series dedicated, basically, to the greats of the
past, stars who normally lifted trophies in the best
continental competitions. But the case of Kevin
Magee is the exception that confirms the rule.
Also, the title of this entry is not perfectly accurate
because even if Magee didn’t win any European trophy,
he did win a national one with CAI Zaragoza, the Spanish
King’s Cup in 1983. Nonetheless, when surveys are
taken to name the best foreigner ever to play at Maccabi
Tel Aviv, Kevin Magee’s name always deserves strong
consideration. From a personal point of view, I didn’t
see Magee often in person, but a couple games live plus
many on television are enough for me to consider him
one of the greats.
A mistake by Phoenix
After his brilliant years in high school and at Saddleback
Junior College (29.3 points in the 1979-80
season), Kevin Magee – who was born in Gary, Indiana
on January 24, 1959, and died in Amite, Louisiana on
October 23, 2003 – followed his coach Bill Mulligan to
University of California-Irvine. Magee had excellent
scoring averages: 27.5 points per game in 1980-81 and
25.2 in 1981-82. His 46 points against Loyola Marymount
and 25 rebounds against Long Beach State were
school records. After his first year at the university,
Magee was chosen for the USA team at the University
Games in Bucharest. In the final, the USA defeated the
USSR 91-87 thanks to 27 points from Magee, who also
led the team with 7.1 boards per game.
In the 1982 NBA draft, Magee was selected by the
Phoenix Suns with the number 39 pick, but after the
summer camp the club could not offer him a guaranteed
contract until September. He didn’t want to wait
to start playing and he accepted an offer from Italy that
he could not refuse. He would play with Varese, a multiple
European champion which was then looking for
someone to fill in for a living legend, Dino Meneghin,
who had moved to Milano two seasons prior. Magee’s
debut could hardly have been better: 28 points and
17 rebounds against the European champion, Ford
Cantu.
After a great season in Italy, Magee wanted back in
the NBA. But in October of 1983, the Suns made the
same mistake for the second time: they cut Magee and
forced him to go back to Europe. This time he would go
to Spain, where he joined modest CAI Zaragoza, a club
that was growing season after season. For the 1983-
84 season, the city of Zaragoza was awarded with the
organization of the Spanish King’s Cup tourney, which
was to feature a Final Four format for the first time.
However, unlike now, the host team had to earn its way
into the final phase. The key game was against Real Madrid.
Only three days after his arrival to Zaragoza, Magee
helped Zaragoza with 14 points and 14 rebounds to
defeat Real Madrid for the first time, 83-82. In the Final
Four, played on November 30 and December 1 of 1983,
Zaragoza defeated Joventut Badalona 87-83 in the first
game, with 36 points, 17 rebounds and 2 blocks by
101 greats of european basketball
Kevin Magee
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