Gal Mekel

Gal Mekel was born in 1988 in Petah Tikva

Gal Mekel was born on March 4, 1988, to Alon and Ariela Mekel. He grew up in Tel Aviv and attended Alliance High School. He began in the Hapoel Tel Aviv youth team and joined Maccabi Tel Aviv's youth team at 17.

He played college basketball for 2 years at Wichita State University. In his second season he averaged 9.3 points and 3.7 assists per game.

In 2008 he signed with Maccabi Tel Aviv, which loaned him to Hapoel Gilboa Galil. With Galil he won the league title and was named MVP in 2011. He then played for Benetton Treviso in Italy and won the 2013 title with Maccabi Haifa.

In 2013 he signed with the Dallas Mavericks and became the second Israeli in the NBA. He later played for the New Orleans Pelicans and for clubs in Russia, Serbia, Spain and Italy. He returned to Maccabi Tel Aviv in 2016 and won the State Cup in 2016 and 2017.

He also played for the Israel national team and served as its captain. He retired in 2022 and in 2023 became a co-owner of Hapoel Jerusalem.