101 Greats of European Basketball

The man of
the last basket
Every time that Maccabi Tel Aviv visits Pionir
Arena in Belgrade, I remember April
7, 1977. That day, Maccabi and Mobilgirgi
Varese played the final of the competition
we now know as the EuroLeague, the first
one I ever saw live. Two years earlier, Israel
had been part of the EuroBasket played in Yugoslavia,
but it didn’t make the final phase. To be honest, I don’t
remember much about the five qualifying games, after
which Israel finished seventh with an average of
20 points from Miki Berkowitz.
But that club final in 1977 was a dramatic game decided
in the last moments. With 7 seconds to go, and
with a 78-77 lead for Maccabi, a doubtful call for traveling
on Lou Silver allowed Varese a chance to win the game.
But great defense by Maccabi managed to maintain
that score and allowed the Israeli squad to lift its first
European crown ever. That was the first time I saw Miki
Berkowitz play. He was the great star of Maccabi. He was
only 23 years old, but he was already known as one of
the best European players. I remember his name from
the under-18 EuroBasket played in Zadar in 1972, where
a great Yugoslavia team (formed by Dragan Kicanovic,
Mirza Delibasic, Dragan Todoric, Rajko Zizic and Zeljko
Jerkov, among others) won the gold medal. However,
the best scorer of that tourney was one Miki Berkowitz.
Thanks to him, especially, Israel finished fourth.
The stands at Pionir that night in 1977 were yellow
and full of Maccabi fans despite the fact that Italy was
much closer than Israel. Also, Yugoslavia and Israel
didn’t have a diplomatic relationship back then, but
the Yugoslav government allowed the Maccabi fans to
enter the country without a visa. That was also the first
time that a jumbo jet landed in Belgrade. That night,
Berkowitz scored 17 points in his first big final. He was
the second-best scorer for Maccabi, behind only Jim
Boatwright (26). On the other side, stars such as Dino
Meneghin (21 points), Bob Morse (20) and Randy Meister
(7) couldn’t win against the big heart of Berkowitz
and his teammates.
History against Washington
One year later, on September 8, 1978, Maccabi entered
the history books by becoming the first European
team to beat an NBA team. And not just any team.
Maccabi won 98-97 against the Washington Bullets,
the previous NBA champion, a team featuring players
like Wes Unseld and Elvin Hayes as big stars and Dick
Motta on the bench. Miki Berkowitz scored 26 points in
that game.
Berkowitz was a connoisseur of American basketball.
He spent one year at the University of Nevada at
Las Vegas and had offers to sign for the New Jersey
Nets and the Atlanta Hawks, which would have made
him the first European player to enter the NBA. But
Maccabi had his rights and he had to go back to Tel Aviv.
In the 1979 EuroBasket, with an average of 23.6
points, he led Israel to the silver medal, which is still the
biggest international success of the country’s national
team. Against France and Spain he scored 33 points,
against Italy he had 31, but his most important basket
was the last one in a duel against Yugoslavia, which was
then both the European and World champion, with its
golden generation. Israel won 77-76 and sent Yugosla-
101 greats of european basketball
Miki Berkowitz
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