Steve Kaplan (סטיב קפלן) is an American-Israeli former

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

player, who played 14 seasons in the

Israel Basketball Premier League Ligat HaAl ( he, ליגת העל, lit., ''Supreme League or Premier League''), or the Israeli Basketball Premier League, is the top-tier level league of professional competition in Israeli club basketball, making it Israel's primary basketball co ...

. He played the forward position. He is 8th all-time in career points in the league.

Early and personal life

Kaplan is Jewish, and has dual

American-Israeli , native_name_lang = , image = , caption = , population = 110,000–150,000 , popplace = New York metropolitan area, Los Angeles metropolitan area, Miami metropolitan area, and other large metropolitan are ...

citizenship. He grew up in

Collingswood, New Jersey Collingswood is a borough in Camden County, New Jersey, located east of Center City Philadelphia. As of the 2010 U.S. census, the borough's population was 13,926,Alexander Wolff (2010)
''Big Game, Small World; A Basketball Adventure''
/ref> and played prep basketball at

Collingswood High School Collingswood High School is a four-year comprehensive public high school that serves students in ninth through twelfth grades from Collingswood in Camden County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is the sole secondary school of Colling ...

. He is 6' 6" (198 cm) tall. He served in the

Israel Defense Forces The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; he, צְבָא הַהֲגָנָה לְיִשְׂרָאֵל , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the Israel, State of Israel. It consists of three servic ...

, moved to

Ramat Gan, Israel Ramat Gan ( he, רָמַת גַּן or , ) is a city in the Tel Aviv District of Israel, located east of the municipality of Tel Aviv and part of the Tel Aviv metropolitan area. It is home to one of the world's major diamond exchanges, and man ...

, and is married to Israeli-born Irit Kaplan. His son Tom Kaplan played for the Israel 17-under national basketball team, and attended

Monmouth University Monmouth University is a private university in West Long Branch, New Jersey. Founded in 1933 as Monmouth Junior College, it became Monmouth College in 1956 and Monmouth University in 1995 after receiving its charter. There are about 4,400 full- ...

Basketball career

Kaplan played basketball for Team USA in the 1969 Maccabiah Games, and for Team Israel in the

1977 Maccabiah Games At the 10th Maccabiah Games in Israel, more than 2,800 athletes from 34 countries participated in 26 different sports, including chess and bridge. The opening ceremonies were held on July 12, 1977, in Ramat Gan Stadium before a crowd of 50,000 p ...

. He attended

Rutgers University-New Brunswick Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College, and was a ...

('72). Kaplan was captain of the Rutgers basketball team in his senior year. In his Rutgers career, he averaged 16.4 points and 7.6 rebounds per game, with a 18.2

field goal percentage Field goal percentage in basketball is the ratio of field goals made to field goals attempted. Its abbreviation is FG%. Although three-point field goal percentage is often calculated separately, three-point field goals are included in the gener ...

and an 88.8

free throw percentage In basketball, free throws or foul shots are unopposed attempts to score points by shooting from behind the free-throw line (informally known as the foul line or the charity stripe), a line situated at the end of the restricted area. Free throws ...

(the second-highest in school history). His .927 free throw percentage in 1989-90 is the highest in Rutgers history. Kaplan played 14 seasons of professional basketball in Israel with

Hapoel Ramat Gan Hapoel Ramat Gan Givatayim F.C. ( he, מועדון כדורגל הפועל רמת-גן גבעתיים, ''Moadon Kaduregel Hapoel Ramat Gan Givatayim'') is an Israeli football club from Ramat Gan and Givatayim. They currently play in Liga Leumit, ...

, in the

. He is 8th all-time in career points in the league, with 5,913. He also played on the

Israeli national basketball team The Israel men's national basketball team ( he, נבחרת ישראל בכדורסל) represents Israel in international basketball tournaments. They are administered by the Israeli Basketball Association. Israel is currently ranked 33rd in the ...

, and competed in

EuroBasket 1979 The 1979 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 1979, was the 21st FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship, held by FIBA Europe. Twelve national teams affiliated with the International Basketball Federation entere ...

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

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kaplan, Steve American expatriate basketball people in Israel American men's basketball players Basketball players at the 1969 Maccabiah Games Basketball players from New Jersey Collingswood High School alumni Competitors at the 1977 Maccabiah Games Israeli Basketball Premier League players Jewish American sportspeople Jewish men's basketball players Maccabiah Games basketball players of Israel Maccabiah Games basketball players of the United States People from Collingswood, New Jersey Rutgers Scarlet Knights men's basketball players Sportspeople from Camden County, New Jersey Maccabiah Games silver medalists for Israel