With 48 Israeli Championships, 37 State Cups and 5 European Cups, Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv is the first and most successful basketball club in Israel.
It all started in the mid-1930's
in the center of Tel Aviv as part of the Maccabi Tel Aviv Sports Club (founded in 1906).
The Basketball League in Israel started in 1954 and Maccabi Tel Aviv were the first champions. They have dominated the championship ever since, winning the title 48 times, including a run of 23 titles in a row between 1970 & 1992, most probably a world record. The team has also won the national cup 37 times. Maccabi is considered as Israel's national sporting representative in the world..
Since 1969 till 2008, Maccabi Tel Aviv had been sponsored by ELITE, Israel's largest food company and also carried its name. Since July 2008, Maccabi got a new sponsor - ELECTRA.
Since 1963 the club’s home court has been the NOKIA Arena in the Yad Eliyahu area in Tel Aviv.
It started as an open air court for 5,000 spectators. Nowdays it is a modern arena with a capacity of 11,000.
Most of Maccabi head coaches were ex-players at the club: The late Yehoshua Rozin was involved with the club for 40 years; Ralph Klein started as an 18 years old player and later had several spells as a coach and led the club to its first European title in 1977. Zvi Sherf played for Maccabi's second team and coached the team on three spells. Pini Gershon played in the Youth Section and as a coach led Maccabi to three European titles in 2001, 2004 and 2005.
Maccabi Tel Aviv has always been proud to provide the national team with a large number of players. Five of Maccabi players, headed by the late Avraham Shneur, were on the team which represented Israel in its first European Championship in 1953 in Moscow.
Tanhum Cohen-Mints was one of Europe's top centers in the sixties and was selected for the first European All Star Team which played in Madrid in 1964. Mickey Berkowitz, Motty Aroesti, Lou Silver & Eric Minkin, played a major part in winning the silver medal in the European Championship in 1979 in Torino.
Doron Jamchy played 16 years for the national team and holds the record for appearances (191 international games) and points scored (3,515).
Five of Maccabi players are members of the actual national team : Captain Tal Burstein, Yaniv Green, Guy Pnini, Elishay Kadir And David Bluthental.
Maccabi Tel Aviv was the first Israeli club to enter the European Cup for Champions in 1958. Since then they have played 602 games in European competitions and were the first and only Israeli club to play in a Final (1967 Cup Winners Cup) and to win the Champions Cup on five occasions (1977, 1981, 2001, 2004, 2005). So far Maccabi has played in 13 Champions Cup Finals. In 1994 and 2004 Maccabi Tel Aviv Basketball Club organized the European Final Four in Tel Aviv.
The first basketball game between an NBA and a FIBA team was held in 1978 in Tel Aviv, Israel. Maccabi Tel Aviv beat the defending NBA champion Washington Bullets 98-97.
Maccabi has played a record 18 times vs. NBA teams, and became the first European team to win on an NBA floor when it beat Toronto, 105-103, in 2005. It also beat the Suns and Nets in 1984 to win a tournament in Tel Aviv.
