(Photo: @gs_odeabank/Twitter)
By Myles Dichter - November 14, 2017
Originally appeared here on CBC Sports
If you're a Raptors fan, you may remember a 2005 exhibition game in which Toronto became the first NBA team in 27 years to lose to Israeli powerhouse Maccabi Tel Aviv.
Star guard Anthony Parker nailed the go-ahead jumper with less than a second remaining, and the two-time EuroLeague MVP later parlayed that performance into a multi-year contract with the Raptors.
Around this time, Toronto resident David Goldstein visited Israel, where his mother holds citizenship. The Goldstein family went to see David's grandparents at their seniors' living complex.
"My grandparents had some friends over who heard that I was from Toronto and they just started going bananas over Anthony Parker," says Goldstein. "I thought, it's really interesting how passionate they are, these 80-something-year-old women who I never would have guessed would be sports fans, and I was curious to know more."
A decade later, Goldstein has turned that curiosity into a book. Alley-Oop to Aliyah was published Nov. 7.
In the last 40 years, more than 800 African-Americans have relocated to Israel to play in the Israeli Basketball Premier League. The book focuses on those players, but rarely delves into strategy or statistics. Read More