Tal Brody

Tal Brody was born in 1943 in Trenton

Brody was born in Trenton, New Jersey, to Max and Shirley Brody. His father had lived in Mandatory Palestine for 3 years in the 1920s before moving to the United States. Brody began playing basketball at age 8 and led his high school team to a state championship.

He played point guard for the University of Illinois and was named an All-American in 1965. He earned a bachelor's degree in physical education there, and later a master's degree in educational psychology.

In 1965 the Baltimore Bullets picked him 12th in the NBA draft, and that year he won gold with the US team at the Maccabiah Games. In 1966 he moved to Israel to play for Maccabi Tel Aviv instead of the NBA. He played for the national teams of both the United States and Israel.

In 1977 his team beat CSKA Moscow, and his remark after the game, "We are on the map," entered Israeli speech. That year Maccabi won the European Champions Cup for the first time. He retired in 1978.

After retiring he was an assistant coach and commentator, then worked in insurance and modeling. He joined Likud in 1995 and ran in its 2008 primaries. In 2010 the Foreign Ministry named him a goodwill ambassador.