101 Greats of European Basketball

Vladimir Stankovic
Magee. Against FC Barcelona in the title game, it was
even closer, but Zaragoza won 81-78 with 19 points by
Magee and 18 by Jim Allen, with whom Magee formed
a great duo.
That same season, CAI Zaragoza played the Korac
Cup and reached the semifinals. Magee shined, with 34
and 23 points against Tours, 23 and 37 against Trieste,
26 and 30 against Sibenka. But in the semifinal, despite
Magee’s 28 and 27 points and Zaragoza’s 108-87 victory
at home in the first leg, Crvena Zvezda eliminated
them with a 130-100 triumph in Belgrade, which was
the first time I saw Magee live.
An idol in Tel Aviv
Despite its ambition and growth, it was clear that
CAI Zaragoza would not be able to retain such a big
star. Enter Maccabi Tel Aviv from Israel, which appeared
on the scene with a superior offer. The media at the
time talked about $250,000 for Kevin Magee and Lee
Johnson, a dream duo that had to put Maccabi back to
the top in Europe.
During the next six years, Maccabi won six national
league titles and five Israeli cups. But the most coveted
title, that of the EuroLeague, it never got back. In three
straight finals, Maccabi was always the loser: 1987 in
Lausanne against Tracer Milan (71-69), 1988 in Ghent
against the same opponent (90-84), and 1989 in Munich
against Jugoplastika Split (75-69). I saw Magee
twice in the 1987-88 season, first in Belgrade where
Maccabi fell to Partizan with young Vlade Divac by
85-77, and later in Tel Aviv with a 98-84 Maccabi win,
although both teams had already qualified for the first
Final Four.
Magee was not a tall player – officially he was 2.03
meters – but his rebounding abilities were immense.
He was a strong player, and he liked contact because
his physical potential granted him superiority over the
opponent. But he also had a good mid-range shooting
touch. He normally reached double-doubles, meaning
he was like life insurance for his team. Maybe he
wouldn’t have his best day sometimes, but that didn’t
mean he was having his worst day, because he was
never below a certain standard.
In the EuroLeague of the time, Magee scored 2,081
points for Maccabi, a total that ranks among the club’s
best. Magee was an idol among Maccabi fans and
nobody even blinked when, in a survey long after his
departure from Tel Aviv, he was still chosen by fans as
the best foreigner to have ever played in Maccabi, even
ahead of Earl Williams.
A tragic accident
For the 1990-91 season, Magee was back to Spain
to play with his CAI Zaragoza again. In a new attempt to
win a continental trophy, he led his team to the Saporta
Cup final against PAOK Thessaloniki, played on March
26 of 1991 in Geneva. It was a shameful game because
of the violent behavior of the Greek fans. On the court,
Zaragoza was a better team for 30 minutes, but with
2 minutes to go the score was 72-72. Some mistakes
down the stretch cost Zaragoza the final win.
For Magee, not even the fourth time was the
charm. He finished the season with 406 rebounds,
the best rebounder in the Spanish League, and then
he moved back to Italy to play with Reggio Emilia. In
his two Spanish League stints, he played 57 games,
averaging 24.6 points and 12.1 rebounds, while in
the Italian League he played 65 games and averaged
23.8 points and 14.1 rebounds. His next stop would
be Racing Paris, where he also earned honors as the
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