Tanhum Cohen-Mintz (תנחום (תני) כהן-מינץ; also "Tanchum or Tani" and "Cohen-Minz"; October 18, 1939 – October 11, 2014) 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 Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

player. He was 6'8 " (2.04 m ) tall, and he played at the

center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...

position.

Early life

Cohen-Mintz, who was Jewish, was born in

Riga, Latvia Riga (; lv, Rīga , liv, Rīgõ) is the capital and largest city of Latvia and is home to 605,802 inhabitants which is a third of Latvia's population. The city lies on the Gulf of Riga at the mouth of the Daugava river where it meets the Bal ...

Basketball career

Cohen-Mintz started his sporting career in

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

, following the footsteps of his mother, Edith Cohen-Mintz, who was Israel's women's tennis champion for several years in the 1950s. He himself was Israel's junior tennis champion. He was viewed on the tennis court by legendary basketball coach

Yehoshua Rozin Yehoshua Rozin ( he, יהושע רוזין‎; 16 August 1918 – 6 February 2002) was an Israeli basketball coach. Biography Rozin was born in Alexandria, Egypt. He moved to Israel at the age of six. He played basketball for Maccabi Tel Aviv i ...

, who was impressed by his height and athletic abilities. Rozin convinced Cohen-Mintz to convert to basketball. During his

club Club may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Club'' (magazine) * Club, a ''Yie Ar Kung-Fu'' character * Clubs (suit), a suit of playing cards * Club music * "Club", by Kelsea Ballerini from the album ''kelsea'' Brands and enterprises ...

basketball career, he played with

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 ...

. He was a starting-five member of the 1964 and 1965

FIBA European Selection FIBA All-Star Games were all-star basketball exhibition games, which were also known as "FIBA Festivals". The "FIBA Festival All-Star Games" were held from 1964 to 1995. The FIBA European Selection teams won most of the FIBA Festival All-Star Ga ...

All-Star Teams. He also played with, and was the

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

of the senior

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 ...

, representing it 89

times Time is the continued sequence of existence and events, and a fundamental quantity of measuring systems. Time or times may also refer to: Temporal measurement * Time in physics, defined by its measurement * Time standard, civil time specific ...

, from 1958–1971, during which time he scored 1,076 points. In 1961, he was selected as Israel's Sportsman of the Year. In 1998, ''

Ma'ariv ''Maariv'' or ''Maʿariv'' (, ), also known as ''Arvit'' (, ), is a Jewish prayer service held in the evening or night. It consists primarily of the evening ''Shema'' and ''Amidah''. The service will often begin with two verses from Psalms, ...

'' named him one of the five best basketball players in Israel's history.

Hall of Fame

According to some sources, Tanhum Cohen Mintz is a member of the Jewish Sports Hall of Fame, having been inducted in 1992, but his name appears neither in the list of the

International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame The International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame ( he, יד לאיש הספורט היהודי, translit=Yad Le'ish HaSport HaYehudi) was opened July 7, 1981 in Netanya, Israel. It honors Jewish athletes and their accomplishments from anywhere around ...

inductees nor in the list of the

National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame The National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame and Museum, in Commack, New York, is dedicated to honoring American Jewish figures who have distinguished themselves in sports. Its objective is to foster Jewish identity through athletics, and to commemo ...

inductees.

Personal life

His son,

Uri Cohen-Mintz Uri Cohen-Mintz (אורי כהן-מינץ; born August 1, 1973) is an Israeli former basketball player. He played the forward position. He played in the Israeli Basketball Premier League, and competed for the Israeli national basketball team. Bi ...

, is also a former basketball player, and he also played for Israel's national team.

Death

Cohen-Mintz died October 11, 2014, at the age of 75, of

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...

.Israeli sports mourns the passing of Cohen-Mintz
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References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cohen-Mintz, Tanhum 1939 births 2014 deaths Asian Games medalists in basketball Basketball players at the 1966 Asian Games Basketball players at the 1970 Asian Games Centers (basketball) Israeli men's basketball players Israeli people of Latvian-Jewish descent Jewish men's basketball players Jewish Israeli sportspeople Latvian men's basketball players Latvian emigrants to Israel Latvian Jews Maccabi Tel Aviv B.C. players Basketball players from Riga Asian Games gold medalists for Israel Asian Games silver medalists for Israel Medalists at the 1966 Asian Games Medalists at the 1970 Asian Games Deaths from cancer in Israel Burials at Kiryat Shaul Cemetery