This basketball preseason the NBA and the Euroleage organized the 2006 NBA Europe Live Tour. Regardless of the scores in these specific games, it is remarkable that one of Israels’s professional teams can be competitive with an American professional team, noting that Israel is slightly smaller than the state of New Jersey.

For the tournament, four NBA teams traveled to Europe to compete against a select group of six European teams. The four NBA teams included the Philadelphia 76ers, the Los Angeles Clippers, the San Antonio Spurs, and the Phoenix Suns. Maccabi Tel Aviv, one of the six European teams playing in the tournament, played the San Antonio Spurs on Oct. 8, in Paris,

France and lost 97-84. They also played the Phoenix Suns in the preseason tournament on Oct. 11, in Cologne, Germany and lost this game as well, 119-102. On Oct. 17, Maccabi Tel Aviv played yet another preseason game, separate from the NBA Europe Live Tour, against the Cleveland Cavaliers in Cleveland, Ohio. The Cavaliers won the game 93-67.

This year was one of the poorer years for Maccabi Tel Aviv in regards to their performance, because in the past Maccabi Tel Aviv has been significantly successful against their NBA opponents. Maccabi Tel Aviv has been part of previous exhibition games with NBA teams since 1978 when they played and beat the Washington Bullets by one point 98-97 in Maccabi Tel Aviv’s home city of Tel Aviv, Israel. In 1984, Maccabi Tel Aviv defeated both the New Jersey Nets and the Phoenix Suns in preseason play by a combined 22 points. In the past 30 years, Maccabi has played against NBA teams such as the Philadelphia 76ers, the Miami Heat, the Los Angeles Lakers, the Los Angeles Clippers, the Toronto Raptors, and the Orlando Magic. In 2005, Maccabi Tel Aviv played the Toronto Raptors in Toronto, Canada, and became the first European team ever to beat a NBA team on their own court. The score of this game was 105-103. Notably, Maccabi Tel Aviv has the best record against NBA teams than any other European team.

In the national basketball league in Israel, Maccabi Tel Aviv has also been extraordinarily triumphant. Maccabi Tel Aviv were the first champions of the Basketball League in Israel, and they have dominated the championship winning 45 times. Between 1970 and 1992, the team won a consecutive 23 titles. Maccabi Tel Aviv also has been honored to provide Israel’s national team with many players. Five players from Maccabi Tel Aviv played on Israel’s national team in 1953. That year, they won their first European Championship. Maccabi Tel Aviv has emerged as a victorious team and by doing so has accumulated many awards over the years, including five European Champion titles.