Maccabi Tel Aviv Wins a Remarkable 58th Title as the Underdog

Maccabi Tel Aviv won its 58th championship on Saturday, but this title was described as unlike any of its previous ones. The team lifted the trophy at the Yad Eliyahu Hall after a season that was portrayed as its best in Israel in decades, possibly ever, capped by a domestic double. The article says this was one of the three most impressive championships in club history.

The biggest credit went to coach Oded Katash, perhaps in the most important and brightest moment of his coaching career, which is increasingly rivaling his legendary playing career. Unlike a typical Maccabi title run, this one came from a shorter, more damaged final series against a richer Hapoel Tel Aviv team that had built its entire summer 2025 planning around reaching the decisive moment of summer 2026 and becoming champion.

Hapoel won the assist battle in Games 3 and 4 and also controlled rebounding, including offensive boards, while Maccabi survived through grit, rotation discipline and late clutch plays. Maccabi leaned hard on Will Rayman, Zach Hankins and John DiBartolomeo, who at age 35 averaged 25 minutes in the final series and even served at times as a point guard. Katash chose not to register Lonnie Walker for the deciding game and instead trusted his eight fit players to finish the job, as Monaco had done at the end of the EuroLeague season.

The final turned on the last two games of Roman Sorkin. After what the piece called probably the worst game of his career in Game 3 and another poor showing in Game 4, he hit the championship three-pointer after admitting, “I was focusing too much on myself, that belongs to the old me.” The article says Hapoel’s experiment with a two-team model, one for the EuroLeague and one for the league, failed, and argues Maccabi will need much more talent next season for Europe, but must not lose the togetherness that brought it the title.