Tal Brody to join in Maccabi celebrations
Israeli basketball legend Tal Brody will be guest of honour at next month’s Maccabi Australia 90th anniversary celebrations.
Tal Brody
Maccabi Tel Aviv star Brody participated in the 1965 Maccabiah Games at which 1,250 athletes representing 25 countries participated At the last Maccabiah, held in 2013, over 9,000 Jewish athletes representing nearly 80 countries took part in the “Jewish Olympics”.
Currently Israel’s Goodwill Ambassador, Brody was a highly-rated New Jersey-born player who chose to pass up an NBA career in the U.S. after being convinced by Moshe Dayan to return to Israel after the 1965 Maccabiah.
Known as “Mr Basketball” 72-yr-0ld Brody was the first sportsman to be awarded the coveted Israel Prize following his role in the first ever European Championship by Maccabi Tel Aviv in 1977.
This will not be Brody’s first visit to Australia. In 1975, he toured the country with Maccabi Tel Aviv playing games in Perth, Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane.
Brody is not a stranger to Australia’s Maccabi community.
He told J-Wire: “I see all the Maccabi Australia Executives at least once a year at the Maccabiah Plenary.”
Brody also made mention of the fond memories he had of the late Mike Wrublewski founder of the Sydney Kings.
During his visit to Australia Tal Brody will be the keynote speaker at the 90th anniversary dinner in the Shangri-la Hotel in Sydney on November 26 and will take part in a sports panel in Melbourne on December 1 marking the same milestone, The panel will also include soccer-player Tal Karp, David Grace QC and John Rothfield otherwise known as Dr Turf.
