Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv congratulates Mickey Berkowitz – the greatest player Maccabi ever had and the greatest Israeli athlete of all time – on the occasion of his 60th birthday.
By Amy Samin
Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv congratulates Mickey Berkowitz –the greatest player Maccabi ever had and the greatest Israeli athlete of all time – on the occasion of his 60th birthday.
Club chairman Shimon Mizrahi said, “I’ve known Mickey since he was a teen, a student at the Shevah School, when his teacher was Yehoshua Rozin of blessed memory. He grew up in the youth team of Maccabi Tel Aviv, and I brought him and Moti Aroesti to the pro team at the start of the 1970s. There is no one else like Mickey – he was a model athlete and is an eternal Maccabist; he brought us to the heights. More than anything, he symbolizes the spirit of the club and the importance of winning. We offer Mickey our heartfelt blessings on this special day.”
Mickey was the first king in the rise of Israeli basketball. He is the ultimate winner, with a finger raised high after another game-winning basket. He grew up on Maccabi Tel Aviv’s youth team, and joined the professional team in 1971 when he was only 17 years old. He played for Maccabi until 1988 (except for the 1975-76 season, when he studied at and played for the University of Nevada Las Vegas).
Mickey played for Maccabi Tel Aviv in jersey number 9 for 16 seasons, during which he won 16 Israeli Championships, 13 Israeli Cups, two European Champions Cups, and one Intercontinental Cup title. He is responsible for countless unforgettable moments and game-winning baskets. On his 23rd birthday, exactly 37 years ago today, he had a starring role in Maccabi Tel Aviv’s historic 91-79 victory over CSKA Moscow in Virton. Together with Moti Aroesti, he made up the greatest and most exciting pair in the history of Maccabi Tel Aviv.
In his 16 seasons with Maccabi, Mickey scored 6,060 points in the Israeli league and 3,588 in European Cup games – more than any other player ever to wear the yellow and blue.
In December of 1995 a special farewell game was held in his honor at Yad Eliyahu (known today as Nokia Arena) between a select All-Europe team and Maccabi Tel Aviv, one of the most exciting and emotional events ever to take place there.
List of Titles and Achievements
Played for Maccabi Tel Aviv for 16 seasons. Also played one season at UNLV in the United States, 5 seasons with Maccabi Rishon Lezion, and one season each with Hapoel Jerusalem and Hapoel Tel Aviv; a total of 23 seasons in the Israeli premier league. During that time he scored 8,465 points! He played until the age of 41.
Won 16 Israeli Championships with Maccabi, 13 Israeli Cups, 2 European Champions Cups, and one Intercontinental Cup; 32 team titles – the most anyone has ever received
Highest all-time scorer for Maccabi Tel Aviv in Europe with 3,588 points
Highest all-time scorer for Maccabi Tel Aviv in Israel with 6,060 points
Including playoffs and Cup games, Mickey scored over 12,000 points for Maccabi
He played in the European Cup Final six times with Maccabi Tel Aviv
Highest scorer in the European Championship for Youth in 1972
Scored 2,842 points for the Israeli National Team in 165 games
Played on the Israeli National Team in 7 European Championship competitions and once in the World Championships (1986)
Led the Israeli National Team to its greatest achievement – a silver medal in the European Championships in Turin in 1979
Named the MVP of the European Championships of 1979
Played seven times on the select All-Europe team, which came to play in an unforgettable farewell game at Yad Eliyahu in 1995
Named by the Euroleague to the list of the 35 greatest contributors (players) to European basketball of all time – the only Israeli player on the list
Was twice a torchbearer at the opening ceremony of the Maccabiah Games
One of the torch lighters in the Yom Ha’Atzmaut ceremony at Mount Herzl in 2004 together with the legendary coach Ralph Kline of blessed memory
Named the Israeli athlete of the half-century during the celebrations of the 50th anniversary of Israel’s independence (1998)
Scored countless game-winning baskets
Came in first in every survey about Israeli’s greatest basketball players and athletes of all time
Received a lifetime achievement award in sports from the Ministry of Culture and Sports (2014)
