Ralph Klein, also known as Rafael "Ralph" Ram ( he, רלף קליין July 29, 1931 – August 7, 2008) was an Israeli professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

player and coach. In Israel, he was known as "Mr. Basketball".

Early life

Klein was born in Berlin, during the time of the

Weimar Republic The Weimar Republic (german: link=no, Weimarer Republik ), officially named the German Reich, was the government of Germany from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a constitutional federal republic for the first time in history; hence it is ...

, to an affluent

Hungarian Jewish The history of the Jews in Hungary dates back to at least the Kingdom of Hungary, with some records even predating the Hungarian conquest of the Carpathian Basin in 895 CE by over 600 years. Written sources prove that Jewish communities lived ...

family, that returned to

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

, before the outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. His father was murdered in Auschwitz, but he and his family survived thanks to efforts by

Raoul Wallenberg Raoul Gustaf Wallenberg (4 August 1912 – disappeared 17 January 1945)He is presumed to have died in 1947, although the circumstances of his death are not clear and this date has been disputed. Some reports claim he was alive years later. 31 J ...

Basketball playing career

Club career

After the war, at the age of 16, Klein began playing football, but later moved to basketball, and played in the Hungarian national league. In 1951, he immigrated to Israel, with his mother. After serving in the

Israeli navy The Israeli Navy ( he, חיל הים הישראלי, ''Ḥeil HaYam HaYisraeli'' (English: The Israeli Sea Corps); ar, البحرية الإسرائيلية) is the naval warfare service arm of the Israel Defense Forces, operating primarily in ...

, he joined

Maccabi Tel Aviv Maccabi Tel Aviv ( he, מכבי תל אביב) is one of the largest sports clubs in Israel, and a part of the Maccabi association. Many sports clubs and teams in Tel Aviv are in association with Maccabi and compete in a variety of sports, such ...

, with which he played in more than 160 games, through 1964. With Maccabi Tel Aviv, he scored 2,701 total points, and won eight

Israeli Super League The Israeli Premier League ( he, ליגת העל, ''Ligat Ha`Al'', ), is a professional association football league which operates as the highest division of the Israeli Football League – the state's league of Israel. The league is contested b ...

national championships and six Israeli State Cups.

National team career

Klein was also a member of the senior Israel national basketball team. With Israel's senior national team, he played at the 1952 Summer Olympic Games, and at the 1954 edition of the FIBA World Cup. He also played at the

1953 Events January * January 6 – The Asian Socialist Conference opens in Rangoon, Burma. * January 12 – Estonian émigrés found a government-in-exile in Oslo. * January 14 ** Marshal Josip Broz Tito is chosen President of Yug ...

1959 Events January * January 1 - Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance. * January 2 - Lunar probe Luna 1 was the first man-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reached the vicinity of E ...

1961 Events January * January 3 ** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and consular relations with Cuba (Cuba–United States relations are restored in 2015). ** Aero Flight 311 (K ...

, and

1963 Events January * January 1 – Bogle–Chandler case: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation scientist Dr. Gilbert Bogle and Mrs. Margaret Chandler are found dead (presumed poisoned), in bushland near the Lane Co ...

editions of the

FIBA EuroBasket EuroBasket, also commonly referred to as the European Basketball Championship, is the main international basketball competition that is contested quadrennially, by the senior men's national teams that are governed by FIBA Europe, which is the E ...

. He also played at the 1960 Pre-Olympic Tournament. In total, Klein played in 68 games with the senior Israeli national team.

Basketball coaching career

Clubs

Klein began his

coaching Coaching is a form of development in which an experienced person, called a ''coach'', supports a learner or client in achieving a specific personal or professional goal by providing training and guidance. The learner is sometimes called a ''coa ...

career in 1964. In 1969, he was appointed as

head coach A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manager", as in assoc ...

, with which he won 10

championships, 9 Israeli State Cups, and the FIBA European Champions Cup ( EuroLeague) championship of the 1976–77 season. He also coached the German League club Saturn Köln, and he won another Israeli State Cup title with Hapoel Tel Aviv.

National teams

of the senior Israeli national team, Klein won a silver medal at the 1979 EuroBasket, and also finished in sixth place at the

1981 EuroBasket The 1981 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 1981, was the 22nd FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship, held by FIBA Europe. The competition was hosted by Czechoslovakia and took place from 26 May to 5 June 1981 ...

and the 1983 EuroBasket. In 1983, he unexpectedly announced his appointment as the head coach of the senior West German national team. Klein led the West German national team to an eighth-place finish at the

1984 Summer Olympic Games The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the secon ...

, and to a fifth-place finish at the 1985 EuroBasket, which was held on West German home soil.

Personal life

In 2007, Klein was diagnosed as suffering from colorectal cancer, and he was believed to be on his deathbed. However, his health improved and he even went back to coaching. He died of cancer on August 7, 2008, at

Sheba Medical Center Chaim Sheba Medical Center at Tel HaShomer ( he, המרכז הרפואי ע"ש חיים שיבא – תל השומר), also Tel HaShomer Hospital, is the largest hospital in Israel, located in the Tel Aviv District city of Ramat Gan at Tel HaShome ...

, in

Tel HaShomer Tel HaShomer ( he, תֵּל הַשּׁוֹמֵר, ''lit.'' Hill of the Guardsman) or Kiryat Krinitzi is a neighborhood in Ramat Gan, Israel. It is bordered to the north by Kiryat Ono, to the east by Yehud, and to the south by Or Yehuda. A major ...

Awards

In 2006, Klein was awarded the Israel Prize for sport, along with former football

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

Ya'akov Hodorov.

Commemoration

* In 2010, the filming of "

Playoff The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

" began, a movie based on Klein's life story, and directed by Israeli movie director,

Eran Riklis Eran Riklis ( he, ערן ריקליס; born October 2, 1954) is an Israeli filmmaker. His films include ''Cup Final'' (1991), '' The Syrian Bride'' (2004), ''Lemon Tree'' (2008) and '' Dancing Arabs'' (also known as ''A Borrowed Identity'') (20 ...

.Yoav Borowitz
Sports / Shooting off the mark
Haaretz, 17 November 2011 * Israeli basketball team, Elitzur Elkana, whom Klein coached towards the end of his life, is named after the veteran Israeli coach (Elizur "Ralph Klein" Elkanah). The basketball team also wrote a Sefer Torah, in the name and honor of Klein. *The veterans group of Maccabi Tel Aviv basketball team commemorates the achievements and memory of Ralph Klein, and since his death, it is named "Maccabi Ralph Klein Tel Aviv".

References

External links

FIBA Archive Player Profile 1
{{DEFAULTSORT:Klein, Ralph 1931 births 2008 deaths Basketball players at the 1952 Summer Olympics BSC Saturn Köln coaches Deaths from cancer in Israel Deaths from colorectal cancer EuroLeague-winning coaches Hungarian basketball coaches Hungarian emigrants to Israel Hungarian Jews Hungarian men's basketball players Israeli basketball coaches Israeli Basketball Premier League players Israeli men's basketball players Israeli people of Hungarian-Jewish descent Israel Prize in sport recipients Jewish men's basketball players Maccabi Tel Aviv B.C. players Maccabi Tel Aviv B.C. coaches Olympic basketball players of Israel Basketball players from Berlin Sportspeople from Tel Aviv Shooting guards 1954 FIBA World Championship players