Steve Kaplan (basketball)

Steve Kaplan (סטיב קפלן) is an American-Israeli former basketball player, who played 14 seasons in the Israel Basketball Premier League.[1] He played the forward position.[2] He is 8th all-time in career points in the league.

This article is about the basketball player. For the investor, see Steven Kaplan (investor).
Steve Kaplan
Personal information
NationalityAmerican / Israeli
Listed height6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)
Career information
High schoolCollingswood
(Collingswood, New Jersey)
CollegeRutgers (1969–1972)
NBA draft1972: undrafted
PositionForward
Career history
?–?Hapoel Ramat Gan
Medals
Representing  United States
Men’s Basketball
Maccabiah Games
Silver medal – second place 1969 Tel Aviv

Early and personal life

Kaplan is Jewish, and has dual American-Israeli citizenship.[3][1] He grew up in Collingswood, New Jersey[4] and played prep basketball at Collingswood High School.[5] He is 6' 6" (198 cm) tall.[2] He served in the Israel Defense Forces, moved to Ramat Gan, Israel, and is married to Israeli-born Irit Kaplan.[6][4][7][8] His son Tom Kaplan played for the Israel 17-under national basketball team, and attended Monmouth University.[8]

Basketball career

Kaplan played basketball for Team USA in the 1969 Maccabiah Games winning a silver medal alongside Ronald Green, Jack Langer, and Neal Walk, and for Team Israel in the 1977 Maccabiah Games.[9][10]

He attended Rutgers University-New Brunswick ('72).[1] Kaplan was captain of the Rutgers basketball team in his senior year.[1] In his Rutgers career, he averaged 16.4 points and 7.6 rebounds per game, with a 48.2 field goal percentage and an 88.8 free throw percentage (the second-highest in school history).[2][11] His .927 free throw percentage in 1989-90 is the highest in Rutgers history.[11]

Kaplan played 14 seasons of professional basketball in Israel with Hapoel Ramat Gan, in the Israel Basketball Premier League.[4][12] He is 8th all-time in career points in the league, with 5,913.[12]

He also played on the Israeli national basketball team, and competed in EuroBasket 1979, in which the Israeli national team won the silver medal, its greatest achievement of all time.[13]

After his basketball career, Kaplan became the director of logistics for a chemical company.[4]

References
  1. Eskenazi, Gerald (February 9, 1974). "Israeli Quintet Boasts Fighting Spirit". The New York Times.
  2. "Steve Kaplan College Stats". College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com.
  3. Michael Bar-Eli and Yair Galily (January 2005). "From Tal Brody to. European Champions: Early Americanization and the“Golden Age”", Journal of Sport History, 32(3): 401-422
  4. Alexander Wolff (2010). Big Game, Small World; A Basketball Adventure
  5. Frambes, Doug. "Colls Rock Rancocas", Courier-Post, March 3, 1967. Accessed November 23, 2020. "Again Collingswood prospered from a splendid team effort. Steve Kaplan (6-6) led the scoring with 23 points and did yeoman work off both backboards."
  6. "Israel Hoopsters to Play Villanova Team". Philadelphia Jewish Exponent. February 28, 1975. p. 23.
  7. "33 U.S. Basketball Players Performing In Israel League". Jewish Post. May 4, 1979.
  8. "Monmouth University Men's Basketball - Tom Kaplan". bluehawk.monmouth.edu.
  9. "U.S. Cage Team For Maccabiah". Jewish Post. April 25, 1969.
  10. "Tenth Maccabiah - Maccabiah 21".
  11. "2013-14 Rutgers Men's Basketball Media Guide". Issuu.
  12. "Ligat Ha'Al (Israel) - Points". World Hoopstats.
  13. "Schedule & results; 1979 European Championship for Men". Archive.fiba.com.
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