 Who
says there are no Jews in sports? 7'4" Eric G was born on 26
December 1973 in Israel. Okay, so there are ALMOST no Jews in sports.He
is a 7'4" center who was a member of the United States basketball team
at the 2001 Maccabiah Games -- where the U.S. won the gold medal for the
first time since 1985. In high school, Eric was awkward and uncoordinated
and did not even start for the team despite being over 7' tall! While at
tiny Williams College, he began training harder and although his development
was slow (he appeared in only 22 games in three years), he began to get
into shape and became more comfortable with his body.
In 1996, Eric was
the talk of the NBA as he worked out for 35 NBA scouts. Although he was
not drafted that year, he joined the Chicago Bulls' training camp. Despite
being seven-feet tall by his senior year in high school, Eric played sparingly
because his skills were underdeveloped. After high school, he decided to
attend Williams College, a small Division III school. At Williams, he continued
to play basketball, but only appeared in 22 games over three years. During
that time, however, he continued to learn the game, and worked very hard
to get into shape and become more comfortable with his body on the basketball
court. In 1994, Eric was set to transfer to West Virginia as a walk-on.
Joining the Big East team was a great step forward in his career, but misfortune
struck before he got the opportunity.
Driving his car that Labor Day weekend,
he was cut off by a van, resulting in a horrific accident. Unconscious for
many minutes, Eric would later need nine operations and eight blood transfusions,
but he did not give up his dream. Although he never played a minute for
West Virginia, he continued to work at improving his skills on the court.
He returned to Williams, but did not play on the team. Instead he worked
and trained independently with his agent, Larry Gillman. In 1996, Eric declared
himself eligible for the NBA Draft. A number of teams sent scouts to watch
him work out and many came away impressed, but were worried because he had
so little competitive experience. Although he was not drafted, he signed
with the Chicago Bulls in September 1996, and they invited him to their
training camp.
He remained with the Bulls until October 27, three days before
the season opener. Despite the disappointment of not making the NBA, he
has continued to play. He played in Israel for Maccabi Tel Aviv in 1997-98,
and was a teammate of Doron Sheffer and Nadav Henefeld as they won the Israeli
League title. Eric played professionally in Belgium, and was a member
of the U.S. team at the 2001 Maccabiah Games. Gingold also featured in the
movie "Fur: An Imaginary Portrait of Diane Arbus" (with Nicole
Kidman and Robert Downey Jr.), where he played the role of the Jewish Giant
(Eddie Carmel?) He graduated from law school in 2002 and was admitted to
the New York, New Jersey and US District Court. He works for a Park
Avenue law firm and represents hospitals and physicians in the area of medical
malpractice litigation. |
