A History of Tel Aviv Derby Final Battles, and Maccabi's Grip on the Trophy

The Tel Aviv basketball derby has produced some of the fiercest championship series in Israeli sport, and with a best-of-five final beginning Tuesday night, the article revisits the rivalry’s defining moments. In the 1960s, Hapoel Tel Aviv was competitive and won five championships, but its last title came in 1969. It has never beaten Maccabi Tel Aviv in a final series, even though it came close in 2023 and 2024, when Maccabi won both championships 2-1.

One of the most famous turning points came in the 1985 final, when Hapoel won Game 1 but saw star guard Mike Largey and Moti Aroesti ejected after a confrontation in Game 2. Hapoel considered that incident decisive. Maccabi then won 80-89, carried a major psychological edge into Game 3, and claimed another title. Hapoel was left with one more painful “what if.”

The 1992 series became so iconic it was later turned into a television series. Hapoel, coached by Ralph Klein, believed it could end Maccabi’s dominance with David Theriot and Purvis Short, but the best-of-five stayed tied 2-2 until the decider at Yad Eliyahu. After 90 seconds, Levon Mercer hit Tomer Steinhauer in the face, yet the referees did not eject him. Mercer stayed in, Hapoel unraveled, and Maccabi won 63-81. Mercer scored only 7 points, but the call became part of derby lore.

The rivalry flared again in 2004-05, when Maccabi’s EuroLeague powerhouse led by Sarunas Jasikevicius, Anthony Parker and Nikola Vujcic still had to fight off Hapoel. Hapoel’s 71-96 league win was its biggest derby victory at the time, but Maccabi swept the final 0-3. In 2022, Hapoel, then rebuilt as a supporters’ club after years of turmoil and the loss of Ussishkin, returned to the final for the first time in years. Game 2 was delayed by more than an hour after Hapoel fans lit flares at Drive-In Arena, but Hapoel still won 74-112, its largest derby victory ever. In the decider at Yad Eliyahu, it led 0-17 in the third quarter before Maccabi escaped 90-94. The 2024 final again followed the same script, with Maccabi winning Game 3 74-82 after a 55-54 score heading into the fourth quarter, sealing its 57th championship. Another chapter is now set to be written.