Former NBA Commissioner and Basketball Hall of Fame honoree David Stern, left, received his International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame induction medal from American-born Israeli basketball icon Tal Brody, at a special presentation in New York City.

The recently retired Commissioner was elected to the IJSHOF in 1998.

Brody, the Holy Land’s first modern-day sports hero, and Israel Foreign Ministry’s Ambassador of Goodwill, is himself a 1996 IJSHOF inductee. He was a University of Illinois All-America in 1965, and the 13th pick in that year’s NBA draft (Baltimore Bullets).

The New Jersey-born basketball star opted to forgo the NBA to pursue a UI masters degree. A year later, he accepted an offer to join the Maccabi-Tel Aviv team.

After several promising seasons, Brody led Maccabi TA to the European Cup Championship, in what was then the State of Israel’s greatest international sporting achievement.