Among the oldest and most decorated clubs in Israeli basketball, Hapoel Tel Aviv can trace its history to before the state’s creation and in its 87 years of existence has seen a number of superstars wear its traditional red and white uniforms.
Hapoel’s first game on record was a 6-2 victory against neighboring Hapoel Ramat Gan on January 26, 1935. The first Tel Aviv derby took place the following year and saw Maccabi emerge victorious 5-37. Hapoel did not triumph over Maccabi until 1950.
Since there was no organized league in the years of the British Mandate, nearly all of Hapoel’s games in that period were exhibitions, including many against visiting army teams. The Israeli League came into play in 1954 and Hapoel defeated Hapoel Geva in its debut appearance, 45-30. Hapoel placed third in that first season and fourth the year after. It reached the Israeli Cup final in 1956 and lost to cross-town rival Maccabi. Quickly growing in stature, Hapoel was the league runner-up in each of the next three seasons.
The 1960s would be Hapoel’s greatest decade. Under the guidance of Coach Shimon Shelah, Hapoel captured league championships in 1960, ’61, ’65, ’66 and ’69 plus Israeli Cups in ’62 and 69. The stars of those teams were playmaker Haim Hazan and team captain Erez Lustig.
Hapoel debuted in European competitions in 1961 and defeated Galatasaray Istanbul in a two-game, total-points playoff series in the EuroLeague eighthfinals before falling to three-time defending champion ASK Riga in the quarterfinals.
The core of Barry Leibowitz, Ivan Leshinsky, Mark Tornstein and Alan Zuckerman carried Hapoel to new heights when it won the league and cup double in 1969. Leibowitz was temporarily banned from playing because he was not an amateur – he played one season in the American Basketball Association for Pittsburgh, New Jersey and Oakland – and instead became the team’s player/coach.
The rivalry between Maccabi and Hapoel continued to grow and in an Israeli basketball first, referees from Greece and Turkey were invited to officiate the derby on December 30, 1969. Hapoel lost that game in a controversial manner after the winning basket was disallowed and finished second to Maccabi at the end of the season. Maccabi became the team to beat and in the early 1970s, even after Leibowitz returned to play, Hapoel fell further back in the standings.
Hapoel returned to European action in the mid-to-late 1970s. In 1976, Leibowitz scored 51 points in a Korac Cup game against FC Barcelona, though Hapoel lost 117-126. In 1979, Fran Costello was signed as the first foreign player in club history. That year the club made waves by reaching the Korac Cup semifinals where it was eliminated by Cibona Zagreb.
1980 marked a new chapter as the club’s new home arena, Ussishkin Hall, was opened. In 1984, with Yehoshua Rozin on the sidelines and a young backcourt led by Willie Sims and Amos Frishman captured the Israeli Cup. The late 1980s saw a number of big names pass through, including Earl Williams, Lavan Mercer and a young Pini Gershon as head coach, but Hapoel was unable to consistently challenge for the top spots in the league.
Hapoel made another deep run in the Korac Cup in 1988 when, after victories over Cantu and Jugoplastika Split, it reached the semifinals. This time Drazen Petrovic scored 59 points in the first game and 37 in the second to lead Cibona to a sweep.
In the early 1990s, Coach Ralph Klein built a strong team with Tomer Steinhauer and Shimon Amsalem in the paint and David Thirdkill and Purvis Short on the perimeter. Hapoel reached the league finals in 1992. That summer, Radenko Dobras replaced Short and Hapoel finished the regular season in first place and eliminated Maccabi in the playoff semifinals, but lost to Gershon and Hapoel Galil Elyon in the finals. Tzvika Sherf replaced Klein, but the result was similar and Hapoel lost to Maccabi in the playoff finals.
Financial hardships soon fell on Hapoel and, despite the efforts of a young Meir Tapiro and Miki Berkowitz, who played his final season with Hapoel, the club began slipping further in the standings from year to year. In 1997, Hapoel was relegated to the second division for the first time. It bounced right back, but in 1999 it was again relegated. After three years in the second division, Hapoel climbed up again, but in 2006 it was again in the second division.
In between, there was a brief period of success, thanks to the backing of Russian media tycoon Vladimir Gusinsky. Hapoel reached the playoff finals in both 2004 and ’05 and, led by Michael Wright, Yaniv Green and Virginjus Praskevicius, finished third in the 2004 FIBA Europe League.
Ussishkin was demolished in the summer of 2007, despite protests from the fans, and already the two seasons before that the club played its home games at Maccabi’s home, Yad Eliyahu. Fans refused to support the team at Yad Eliyahu and the rift between the fans and the then-owner all but destroyed the club.
