New Jersey native Brody was a first-round NBA draft pick out of the University of Illinois in 1965, but after visiting Israel for the first time that summer for the Maccabiah Games, he decided to stay and play for Maccabi Tel Aviv. He was crucial in growing basketball in Israel and led Maccabi to the 1977 European championship, including an upset of CSKA Moscow in the semifinals at a time when the Soviet Union didn’t have relations with Israel.