Today I will tell you the story of another Israeli glory, Tal Brodi. The US born guard was one of the most important, if not the most important basketball player ever in Israel. If you want to know why, just continue reading.
In 1965, Brodi, who is an American born Jew came to Israel and gave up an NBA contract to play for Maccabi Tel Aviv. After being drafted at the 15th place in 1965 by the Baltimore Bullets, Brodi came over the Atlantic Ocean to settle down with Maccabi. His time playing with Tel Aviv was extremely successful as he led Maccabi to its first ever European Cup Championship in 1977 and he won also 10 Israeli Championships and 6 Israeli State Cups.
After his playing career, Brodi remained in the basketball world. He commented the Euroleague games for the Israeli TV. However this has not been crowned by success as he was bashed throughout the country for his far from perfect Hebrew and his way too much pro-Maccabi commenting. He was famous for being extremely optimistic even going for phrases like "only 5 more three-pointers and we are back in the game". So he retired from commentating and concentrated on his basketball school he has established in Bnei Herzelia.
His basketball school is known for being one of the best of the country. Besides others, several Euroleague players of the actual Maccabi team learned their basics within the Brodi school. Yaniv Green and Tal Burstein are two household names that come from the Bnei Herzelia team and play now with the Yellows.
The impact Brodi had when he came to Israel was enormous. In the Israeli basketball culture, it is common sense to talk about pre-Brodi and after-Brodi as he had such a huge influence on this sport in the country. He led Maccabi to an amazing final of the European Cup of Cup winners in 1967 and he is also the author of a world famous quote: We’re on the map, and we’re staying on the map. Not only in sports. In everything.
These days, besides running his basketball school, Brodi is also a member of the Maccabi Tel Aviv board. He is also a very successful business man as he runs an Insurance Company in Ramat Gan. This business is running perfectly well as he has already achieved a Lifetime Membership of the Million Dollar Round Table. Brody is also one of the few sportsmen that received the "Israel Prize" which he received in 1979.
But Brodi is also active in Politics. After having refused a first offer to join a political party after his retirement, he is now a member of the Likud and is supposed to run for Knesset in the next general election.
To find out more on Brodi’s career and business, you can check the Tal Brody Legacy site.
