Steve Kaplan (סטיב קפלן) is an American-Israeli former basketball player, who played 14 seasons in the Israel Basketball Premier League.[1] He played the forward position.[2] He is 8th all-time in career points in the league.
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Nationality | American / Israeli |
| Listed height | 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) |
| Career information | |
| High school | Collingswood (Collingswood, New Jersey) |
| College | Rutgers (1969–1972) |
| NBA draft | 1972 / Undrafted |
| Position | Forward |
| Career history | |
| ?–? | Hapoel Ramat Gan |
Kaplan is Jewish, and has dual American-Israeli citizenship.[3][1] He grew up in Collingswood, New Jersey[4] and played prep basketball at Collingswood High School.[5] He is 6' 6" (198 cm) tall.[2] He served in the Israel Defense Forces, moved to Ramat Gan, Israel, and is married to Israeli-born Irit Kaplan.[6][4][7][8] His son Tom Kaplan played for the Israel 17-under national basketball team, and attended Monmouth University.[8]
Kaplan played basketball for Team USA in the 1969 Maccabiah Games, and for Team Israel in the 1977 Maccabiah Games.[9][10]
He attended Rutgers University-New Brunswick ('72).[1] Kaplan was captain of the Rutgers basketball team in his senior year.[1] In his Rutgers career, he averaged 16.4 points and 7.6 rebounds per game, with a 18.2 field goal percentage and an 88.8 free throw percentage (the second-highest in school history).[2][11] His .927 free throw percentage in 1989-90 is the highest in Rutgers history.[11]
Kaplan played 14 seasons of professional basketball in Israel with Hapoel Ramat Gan, in the Israel Basketball Premier League.[4][12] He is 8th all-time in career points in the league, with 5,913.[12]
He also played on the Israeli national basketball team, and competed in EuroBasket 1979.[1]
After his basketball career, Kaplan became the director of logistics for a chemical company.[4]