Maccabi Tel Aviv Wins European Basketball Championship for Fourth Time

On Saturday night Israel's most famous basketball club, Maccabi Tel Aviv, overwhelmed Skipper Bologna of Italy in the finals of the Euroleague. This was Maccabi's fourth title, having also won in 1977, 1981 and 2001.

Tel Aviv beat Skipper Bologna by 44 points (118-74), the highest winning margin ever in an European cup final. Maccabi's lead was 31-13 at the end of the first quarter, and 55-30 at the end of the first half. (Keep in mind that European basketball games last only 40 minutes, four 10-minute quarters.) The margin continued to mount even after Maccabi's head coach Pini Gershon cleared his bench with over five minutes left to play.

Maccabi made an incredible 71% of its two-point shots (28 of 38) and 61% of its threes (14 of 23). The win was all the more amazing since Bologna has one of the strongest teams in Europe, and was attempting to win its third title in four years. In two previous meetings this year, Bologna had beaten Maccabi in Tel Aviv, and lost in overtime in Bologna. No one dreamed that the score would be so lopsided. However, the 10,000 devoted Maccabi fans in attendance at Yad Eliyahu Arena were there to make sure the trophy stayed in Israel. Skipper, obviously rattled by the partisan crowd, eventually fell apart completely. (Unfortunately for Skipper, due to personal security concerns almost no Bologna fans made the trip to Tel Aviv.)

After the game ESPN sports commentator Chad Ford said, "I've seen basketball played in a lot of places and this is the most amazing crowd I've seen anywhere. The crowd scared Skipper and gave Maccabi an enormous advantage."

Season ticket holders had to pay to attend the game. Court-side seats for the finals cost about 2,500 shekels ($570), while seats in the lower tiers went for 1,000 shekels ($225), and seats in the upper decks sold for 700 shekels ($160). Although salaries in Israel are one-third to one-half that of comparable British or U.S. salaries, these prices did not deter Maccabi's avid fans.

In a nearby Tel Aviv park tens of thousands of Maccabi fans watched the game on a giant screen, while millions of other Israelis viewed the game on TV. By the second half of the game nearly half (46.8 percent) of the households in the country, were tuned into Israel's TV Channel One. The game also was broadcast live to more than 40 countries.

European basketball teams are professional sports organizations with annual budgets of $12-15 million. Most of the players are foreigners who often earn as much as they would earn warming the bench in the NBA. For example, Maccabi's Anthony Parker, a 28-year-old Illinois native, is reported to earn about one million dollars a season playing for Maccabi. Parker played for the NBA's Philadelphia 76ers and Orlando Magic from 1997-1999 averaging 2.4 points and 7 minutes per game.

Controlled by 3,500 police officers, security was tight for the event. In a massive operation, streets leading to the arena were closed. Only buses and cars with special permits were allowed to approach the arena. Security personnel escorted all players, officials and fans from abroad. Local fans underwent multiple security checks and screenings both inside and outside the sports arena.