Before 1980’s “Miracle on Ice,” an Israeli team’s equally unlikely victory over a Soviet basketball team was dubbed the “Miracle on Hardwood.” After winning, magnetic Israeli team captain Tal Brody, a high NBA draft pick, exclaimed in American-accented Hebrew, “We are on the map, not only in sports, but in everything!” That phrase and the Maccabi Tel Aviv team, a combination of NBA also-rans and Israeli players, rallied a nation in its David-and-Goliath pursuit of the 1977 European Championship. Director Dani Menkin remembers that this much-needed morale boost occured amid a sagging economy, only a few years after the tragic 1972 massacre in Munich and Israel’s draining Yom Kippur War. He brings together most of the members of that year’s team, some of whom are still living in Israel, including Brody and African American Aulcie Perry, who converted to Judaism while on the team.
By Rudie Obias
Lives in Brooklyn, New York. He's a freelance writer interested in cinema, pop culture, sex lifestyle, science fiction, and web culture. His work can be found at Mental Floss, Movie Pilot, UPROXX, ScreenRant, Battleship Pretension and of course Shockya.com.