Miki Berkovich

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Miki Berkovich
undrafted
Playing career1971–1995
PositionShooting guard
Number9
Career history
1971–1975,
1976–1988		Maccabi Tel Aviv
1988–1993Maccabi Rishon LeZion
1993–1994Hapoel Jerusalem
1994–1995Hapoel Tel Aviv
Career highlights and awards
  • FIBA Intercontinental Cup champion (1980)
  • 2× EuroLeague champion (1977, 1981)
  • 4×
    FIBA European All-Star
    (1978, 1981, 1982, 1987)
  • 16×
    Israeli League
    champion (1972–1975, 1977–1988)
  • 13×
    Israeli Cup
    winner (1972, 1973, 1975, 1977–1983, 1985, 1986, 1987)
  • EuroBasket MVP
    (1979)
  • FIBA's 50 Greatest Players (1991)
  • Israel's Top Sportsmen of the 50 Year Jubilee (1948–1998)
  • 50 Greatest EuroLeague Contributors
    (2008)
  • 101 Greats of European Basketball (2018)
FIBA Hall of Fame as player
Medals
Representing  Israel
Men’s Basketball
FIBA EuroBasket
Silver medal – second place 1979 Italy
Asian Games
Gold medal – first place 1974 Iran
Berkovich in 1987

Moshe "Miki" Berkovich (or Mickey Berkowitz; Hebrew: משה "מיקי" ברקוביץ'; born 17 February 1954) is an Israeli former professional basketball player. A 193 cm shooting guard, he is considered to be one of the greatest Israeli basketball players of all time.[1]

Berkovich was named one of

FIBA Hall of Fame player in 2017.[4]
In 2018, he was named one of the 101 Greats of European Basketball.

Early years

Born in

Israel's top professional league
.

College playing career

In 1975, Berkovich played

Maccabi
after just one year.

Club playing career

Berkovich returned to Israel following the 1975–76 season and played a considerable role in

Maccabi Tel Aviv
's fortunes during the late 1970s and early 1980s.

In 1977, Berkovich helped Maccabi Tel Aviv to win its first

Pionir Hall, Belgrade, and CSKA Moscow 91–79 in the semifinals game held in Virton, Belgium. This achievement led to Tal Brody
's famous statement of "We are on the map, not only in basketball".

In 1981, the second FIBA European Champions Cup title came for Maccabi, against another Italian team,

Moti Aroesti, setting the score at 80–77. There were no three-point shots
back then, so the Italians could only score a two-point basket in return. Maccabi won the game by a score of 80–79.

Berkovich's career in Maccabi came to an end in 1988 when he and Aroesti joined

Hapoel Tel Aviv
.

During his playing years with Maccabi, he won 16

Israeli national league championship titles and 13 Israeli national cups
.

NBA offers

After the

NBA, but a contract with Maccabi Tel Aviv stood in the way. Maccabi's management insisted that he stay in the team, so they had to settle the case in civil court
.

National team career

In 1972, Berkovich took the

Israeli under-18 national team to a fourth-place finish at the 1972 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship and he was the leading scorer of the tournament. He also won a gold medal at the 1974 Asian Games in Tehran
.

In 1979, Berkovich was a part of the senior Israeli national team that finished second at the 1979 EuroBasket in Turin. Berkovich was named the tournament's MVP.

Upon his retirement, he was second all-time in appearances (165) and points scored (2,842) among members of the senior men's Israeli national basketball team.

Post-playing career

Berkovich carrying the torch at the opening ceremony of the 1997 Maccabiah Games at Ramat Gan Stadium

Berkovich retired from basketball in 1995, after which he wrote an autobiography called Born to Win. He went on to become the owner of the

Niv Berkovich, played for the team at the time. He later became the director of basketball operations of Ironi Nahariya
, but left the team after just one year.

See also

References

  1. ^ Brian Blum (31 August 2017). "Israeli hoops star to be inducted into FIBA Hall of Fame". israel21c.org. Retrieved 21 March 2022.
  2. Jerusalem Post
    . Retrieved 21 March 2022.
  3. ^ "FIBA Hall of Famers - Mickey Berkowitz - FIBA.basketball". fiba.basketball. FIBA. Retrieved 21 March 2022.
  4. ^ "Dream Team, Shaq and Kukoc headline 2017 Class of FIBA Hall of Fame Inductees". fiba.basketball. FIBA. 23 August 2017. Retrieved 21 March 2022.

External links

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