101 Greats of European Basketball

The man with the
wrong name
His name is Louis ‘Lou’ Grant Silver, but
after everything he did in basketball,
his name should have been Gold. Silver,
who was born on November 27, 1953,
played and studied in the United States.
He was drafted in 1975 by the Kentucky
Colonels of the now-defunct American Basketball Association
with pick number 73. But that same year, he
signed with Maccabi Tel Aviv with the idea of playing
there for one year and then returning to the United
States. He stayed with Maccabi for 10 years. During
that period, he won 10 Israeli League championships,
lifted eight national cups, played in four EuroLeague
finals and won two of them.
Silver’s time in Maccabi coincided with the Golden
Age of the club. In the early 1970s, legendary club president
Shimon Mizrahi and his collaborators started a
project they called the “Great Maccabi”. The first key
move was the signing and naturalization of Tal Brody.
The second was the development of the great talent of
Mickey Berkowitz. The third move was choosing good
Americans. The duo formed by Lou Silver and Jim Boatwright,
together with Aulcie Perry, met the third condition
without a problem.
History in Belgrade
During the 1970s, Maccabi was already a super-dominant
force in Israel, but the directors, the fans and, in
some way, the country itself expected something big in
the EuroLeague. The moment of glory arrived at the end
of the 1976-77 season, Lou Silver’s second with the team.
The EuroLeague started that season with the champions
of 22 countries – including Maccabi and Al Gezira of Egypt,
though the latter withdrew before the start of the competition
– and the defending champ, Mobilgirgi Varese. Italy
was the only country with two representatives. Maccabi
played in Group E with Olympiacos, Dinamo Bucharest
and Synudine Bologna, finishing first with a 5-1 record, its
only defeat coming in Bologna, 76-60.
In the final stage, Maccabi finished second with a 6-4
record, even though two of those games were forfeits.
Due to political issues, Zbrojovka Brno of the former
Czechoslovakia and CSKA Moscow refused to play in Tel
Aviv. FIBA gave the wins to Maccabi with 2-0 scores. The
return games were played in Belgium. Against CSKA,
Maccabi won 91-79, but in the group, Maccabi lost four
games: twice against Varese (109-79 in Bologna and 81-
70 in Tel Aviv) and once each versus Real Madrid (106-
94) and Racing Maes Pils (75-66). In a three-way tie with
CSKA and Madrid, all at 6-4, Maccabi finished second behind
first-place Varese. According to the rules, the first
two teams would face off in the final on neutral ground.
The site of the title game was the legendary Hala Pionir
in Belgrade. FIBA had chosen Belgrade earlier, but when
the two finalists were known, a problem surfaced. Yugoslavia
didn’t have any diplomatic relationship with Israel
and the entry of Israeli citizens to the country was complicated.
However, the government showed great flexibility
and, in the end, more than half of the 6,000 fans packing
the arena were Maccabi supporters. Their arrival marked
the first time ever that a jumbo jet landed in Belgrade.
I was at the game and I have good memories of it,
especially because of the atmosphere created in the
stands by the so-called Yellow Army. On the court, with
101 greats of european basketball
Lou Silver
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