Tal Brody

Talbot "Tal" Brody (Hebrew:טלבוט "טל" ברודי ;born August 30, 1943 in Trenton, New Jersey, U.S.) is a former basketball player. He is considered a star of European and Israeli basketball.

Height: 1.87 m (6' 1½"). Position: Shooting guard.

Brody spent most of his career with the Maccabi Tel Aviv basketball club. In Israel he is widely recognized as a national hero and a symbol of the young country's achievements, not only in basketball. His famous remark "We are on the map" became a part of Israeli culture and is often used in various situations and contexts, from political speeches to National Lottery commercials.

Career

In 1965 Brody, recently graduated from the University of Illinois and picked 15th in the 1965 NBA Draft by the Baltimore Bullets, led USA team to a gold medal at Maccabiah Games. Immediately he was approached by Maccabi Tel Aviv managers who wanted him in their team. Among those who asked Brody to stay in Israel were Education Ministry officials and even another icon - Moshe Dayan. Eventually, it worked.

Brody completed his master's degree in educational psychology, and returned to Israel in 1966, helping Maccabi Tel Aviv to reach the European Cup finals. He returned to the US in 1969 to fulfill his military duty, played for US Army All-Star Team, and then for the US National Team at the 1970 FIBA World Championship in Belgrade, Yugoslavia. [ [http://www.usabasketball.com/history/mwc_1970.html 1970 USA Basketball] ] Brody then returned to Israel to live.

Brody played for Maccabi Tel Aviv until 1980, winning ten domestic championships and six cups. With Maccabi Tel Aviv he appeared in 81 European Cup games, scoring 1,378 points.

The highlight of his career came in 1977. In the European Cup final group, Maccabi Tel Aviv was matched against CSKA Moscow in the semi-final. CSKA Moscow was a powerhouse European team with four European Cup titles. For political reasons (the Soviet Union broke off diplomatic relations with the Jewish state a decade earlier and politically and militarily backed Israel's Arab enemies at the time), CSKA Moscow would not agree to go to Tel Aviv for the game (which would have resulted in a technical defeat), nor was the Israeli club allowed to play in Moscow. In the end, Maccabi Tel Aviv's home game was played in Virton, Belgium.

The game was of huge symbolic value for Maccabi Tel Aviv fans and for many Israelis who ordinarily were not interested in basketball. When Maccabi Tel Aviv won 91:79, the feeling was not only that CSKA Moscow had been defeated, but a victory -- albeit small -- had been achieved against the mighty Soviet Union, the power behind Israel's enemies. "We are on the map", - proclaimed Brody in his heavily American-accented Hebrew, - "And we are staying on the map, not only in sports, but in everything" [In Hebrew: "אנחנו במפה! ואנחנו נשארים במפה - לא רק בספורט, בהכל"] . Maccabi Tel Aviv went on to win its first European title, defeating Mobilgirgi Varese 78:77 in the final game in Belgrade. Brody, as the team captain, lifted the cup.

Brody also played for Israeli National Team, scoring 1,219 points in 78 games.

In 1979, Brody was the first sportsman to be awarded the Israel Prize.

Life after basketball

When Brody retired from basketball in 1980, a special retirement game was arranged in his honor and the European All-Star Team arrived in Israel to play against Maccabi Tel Aviv. He was asked to join Yitzhak Yitzhaky's One Israel party, but rejected the offer. Brody continued with Maccabi Tel Aviv as an assistant coach, then became a sports commentator for Israeli television. Currently he runs an insurance business.

Brody was inducted into the Israeli Basketball Hall of Fame.

In 2004, he lit a torch at the 56th Independence Day ceremony.

Political career

Brody was reported in August 2007 as having decided to run for Knesset, with the Likud in the next general election. Brody said the time was right for him to shift careers after many years running a firm that manages employment benefits programs for companies. He said the Knesset was a good way to spend the third phase of his life after basketball and business.

Since retiring from basketball, Brody had volunteered with many organizations, including the Spirit of Israel, which raises money for "vital human needs" as defined by the Jewish Agency and Keren Hayesod, and Migdal Or, which helps at-risk, impoverished, orphaned and underprivileged children, and spoken around the world for the Foreign Ministry and American Jewish organizations.

Brody could be the first New Jersey native in the Knesset since Marcia Freedman, who served from 1973 to 1977. [http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1187502427748&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull]

References

External links

* [http://www.talbrody.co.il/ The Tal Brody Legacy site]
* [http://www.jewishsports.net/BioPages/TalBrody.htm International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame - Tal Brody's profile]