Nearing the end of an illustrious career. At the age of 34, Gal Mekel is expected to announce tomorrow (Tuesday, 1:00 p.m.) his retirement from active play at a special press conference. The guard, who played only about a month ago with the Israeli national team in the European Championship, debated in the last few days whether to take the step – and in the end, decided.
Mekel, who was born in Ramat Hasharon, began his career at Wichita State College, where he played for two years. He returned to Israel to reach his first stop – Maccabi Tel Aviv, but did not play and was loaned in the 2008/09 season to the ranks of Hapoel Gilboa/Galil. One season later, after starting the season again at Maccabi and not being a partner, he returned to Gilboa – and was a partner in the club’s historic championship, with coach Oded Ketch in 2010.
He continued there for another season, until he went abroad for the first time – and signed with Benton Treviso in the summer of 2011. Mekel returned to Israel again, this time from Italy, and joined Maccabi Haifa – and with it he also won the state championship, after the victory in the final over Maccabi Tel Aviv.
In the summer of 2013 came the peak of his career so far – when he became the second Israeli in the NBA, and joined the ranks of the Dallas Mavericks. After one year, during which he played 31 games, and recorded averages of 2.4 points and 2 assists in 9.4 minutes per game, he was released – he moved to the ranks of the New Orleans Pelicans, from which he was also released after several games.
After that, he went on a long tour in Europe – where he played for teams such as Nizhny Novgorod, Red Star Belgrade, returned for two years at Maccabi Tel Aviv, and went to other teams such as Gran Canaria, Zenit St. Petersburg, Reggio Emilia, Malaga and Andorra. Mekel played in all Israel’s national teams, and was also part of the senior squad in the European championships, including the last one, just about a month ago, where he served as captain.
Mekel will end his career with two championship titles (Gilboa/Galil in 2010, Maccabi Haifa in 2013), two cups with Maccabi Tel Aviv (2016 and 2017), two player of the season awards (2011 and 2013) and 35 Playing in the NBA league. At the end of a 16-year journey, he will soon say goodbye to the game that was his life.