Ralph Klein (coach)

Ralph Klein ( _he. רלף קליין ;July 29 1931 - August 7 2008) was an Israeli basketball player and coach.

Biography

Klein was born in Berlin, Weimar Republic in 1931, to an affluent Hungarian Jewish family that returned to Budapest before the outbreak of World War II. His father died in Auschwitz but he and his family survivedCite news
last = Alon
first = Moshe
title = Legendary sportsmen Chodorov, Klein win Israel Prize
work = Jerusalem Post
accessdate = 2008-03-18
date = 2006-05-02
url = http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1145961266365&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FPrinter] thanks to efforts by Raoul Wallenberg.

After the war, at the age of 16, he 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, he joined Maccabi Tel Aviv, for whom he played more than 160 games up until 1964, scored 2,701 points and won eight state championships and six state cups. He was a member of the Israeli national team that took part in the 1952 men's basketball tournament, the 1954 World basketball championship and the 1953, 1959, 1961 and 1963 European championships. He played 68 games for the national team.

He began his coaching career in 1964. In 1969 he was appointed as head coach of Maccabi Tel Aviv, with whom he won 14 championships and the European title in 1977. As coach of the Israeli national team, he won second place in the EuroBasket in 1979 and sixth place in 1981 and 1983. In 1983, he unexpectedly announced his appointment as the coach for the West German national team and for BSC Saturn Koln, a position he held until 1985.

Klien led the West German national team to a eighth place finish in the 1984 Olympic basketball tournament in Los Angeles and a fifth place at the 1985 European championship held on West German home soil.

In 2006 he was awarded the Israel Prize for lifetime achievement along with former goalkeeper Ya'akov Hodorov. In 2007 he was diagnosed as suffering from Colorectal cancer and was believed to be on his deathbed.Cite news
last = טל
first = רונן
title = "אני גוסס ולמכבי לא אכפת"
work = גלובס
accessdate = 2008-03-18
url = http://business.msn.co.il/msnBusiness/Marketing/200711/2007111014435.htm he icon] However, his health improved and he even went back to coaching.Cite video
people = aviww11 (Contributor)
title = ראיון עם רלף קליין
accessdate = 2008-03-18
date = 2008-02-19
time = 27 seconds
url = http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RzaH7re4PV4]

He died of cancer on August 7, 2008 at Sheba Medical Center in Tel Hashomer.Cite news
last = Cohanim
first = Ehud
title = Basketball coach Ralph Klein dies at 77
work = Ynetnews
accessdate = 2008-08-07
date = 2008-08-07
url = http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3579066,00.html]

References