Early years (right), 1983. Maccabi Rishon LeZion was founded in 1976 by 28-year-old Itzhak Perry, and reached the top division
Israeli Basketball Premier League, where they have remained since the 1988–89 season. At the start of their first season in the top division, Israeli star
Miki Berkovich joined
Richard Rellford, and they led the team. Their coach was Moshe Vainkretz, and they finished the season in 6th place. In the following season, Vainkretz was replaced by Tal Tzuker, and the team finished in 9th place.
1990s In 1990–91, Vainkretz returned to Maccabi Rishon LeZion. With some high-quality players such as Miki Berkovich,
Gene Banks,
Andre Spencer, and
Motti Aroesti, the team finished the regular season in 2nd place in the league. In the semi-finals of the playoffs, Maccabi Rishon LeZion beat
Hapoel Tel Aviv in a 3–0
sweep, and reached their first-ever final series. In the final, they lost in four games (3–1) to
Maccabi Tel Aviv. One season later, in 1991–92, most of the key players stayed and the team ended the regular season again in 2nd place. This time, they lost in the semi-finals series to Hapoel Tel Aviv. However, Maccabi Rishon LeZion reached the final of the
Israel State Cup, but lost 76:84 to
Hapoel Galil Elyon. They also participated in the
EuroLeague, but lost in the second qualifying round to Dutch champions
Den Helder, and dropped to the European Cup, where they were eliminated in the group stage with a record of 3 wins and 7 losses. At the end of the season, some key players such as Banks, Spencer, and
Chaim Zlotikman left the team, and as a result the team ended in 7th place during its 1992–93 campaign, and participated in the bottom playoffs. The years passed and Pini Gershon returned for a second term with Maccabi Rishon LeZion in the 1997–98 season.
Doron Jamchi led the team in points. Despite high expectations from Gershon, the team ended the regular season in 6th place. It lost to
Hapoel Eilat in the quarterfinals. In the
Korac Cup, the team lost in the third round to Polish side Stal Bobrek Bytom. In the following season, Vainkretz returned for a third term with the club and it finished the season in 9th place, and in the third round of the Korac Cup.
2000s After the team lost the first five games of 1999–00 season, Vainkretz resigned and was replaced by
Hanan Keren. The club suffered from economic problems and injuries and finished the season in 10th place. They were not relegated, only because of league expansion. In 2004–05,
Guy Goodes was appointed head coach. The team lost to Maccabi Tel Aviv both in the league quarterfinals and in the semi-finals of the State Cup. With Goodes as head coach, the team "recovered" from the difficult years before.
Omar Sneed,
John Gilchrist, and
Ryan Sidney joined as foreign players, the Israelis
Or Eitan and
Moran Roth joined as well, and they all led Maccabi Rishon LeZion to success in 2005–06 season. Rishon Lezion finished the regular season in 3rd place. They lost in the final four to
Hapoel Jerusalem on a last-second shot by
Horace Jenkins. However, they beat
Ironi Nahariya in the 3rd place game. Eitan and Sneed were named to the Israeli All-League First Team, and Guy Goodes was named Head Coach of the Year.
2010s Before the 2009–10 season, the team completely changed its front office.
Effi Birnbaum was appointed head coach.
Aaron McGhee,
Ugonna Onyekwe, and
Larry O'Bannon joined as foreign players alongside the Israeli players
Avi Ben Chimol and
Meir Tapiro. The team finished only 7th. They lost 3–1 to Hapoel Jerusalem in the quarterfinals. In 2010–11 Birnbaum stayed on as head coach, but the players' squad was refreshed. Magee and Tucker stayed, but the latter was later waived in the middle of the season.
Isaiah Swann,
Dwayne Mitchell, and
Raymar Morgan arrived in addition to the Israeli forward
Nitzan Hanochi. They finished a good season in 5th place, and beat
Bnei Hasharon 3–2 in the quarterfinals. They qualified for the final four, where they were defeated by Maccabi Tel Aviv (100:77), and then by Hapoel Jerusalem in the 3rd place game. Dwayne Mitchell was named to the All-League First Team. In the '11-'12 season, the team reached, for the second time in their history, the
Israel State Cup final, 20 years after their first time. They lost to Maccabi Tel Aviv in
Nokia Arena. In the league, Maccabi Rishon LeZion ended the regular season in 3rd place. In the quarterfinals of the playoffs, they met
Ironi Ashkelon. Ashkelon won the first two games and were close to sweeping them, but Rishon won three games in a row and reached the final four. In the semi-finals, they lost 75:68 to
Maccabi Ashdod, and lost also to
Hapoel Holon in the 3rd place game. Kitchen was named to the All-League First Team. Maccabi Rishon LeZion started the 2012–13 season with Effi Birnbaum as head coach. After 11 games, with only 5 wins, the board decided to terminate Birnbaum's contract and appoint former player and coach Roni Bosani as head coach. The team finished the regular season in 6th place, and lost 3–2 to Hapoel Eilat in the quarterfinals. Rishon started the 2013–14 season very poorly. Former assistant coach Matan Harush was appointed head coach. He led the team for 11 games, only winning 3 games. The fans began to voice their disappointment, and Harush was fired. A few days later, he was replaced by former Maccabi Tel Aviv and
Israel national basketball team coach
Zvika Sherf. Even with Sherf, the team suffered from instability. The team replaced many players during the season, but
Shawn Dawson and
Dror Hajaj stayed. At the end of the season, Rishon and Sherf finished in 10th place, out of 12 teams. They were saved from relegation by a last matchday win. In the following season, the team finished the regular season in 6th place. In the quarterfinals series, they beat Hapoel Holon (3:1), even without the home-court advantage. In the semi-finals, they lost to Hapoel Jerusalem, 3:0.
Champions after fairytale season (2015–16) The
2015–16 season was a remarkable one for Rishon LeZion.
Sharon Drucker was fired on the 14th of April, and was replaced by
Arik Shivek. With some high-quality players such as
Darryl Monroe and
Mark Lyons, the team finished in sixth place in the regular season and reached the quarter-finals of
FIBA Europe Cup. On 9 June 2016, the club won their first championship after beating Hapoel Jerusalem 83–77 in the Final, in front of 11,000 spectators at Jerusalem's home arena.
Modern era . At the start of the 2018–19 season, Rishon LeZion won the
Israeli Basketball League Cup. In the 2019–20 season, Rishon LeZion advanced to its third-ever Israeli League final, after
Adam Ariel hit a buzzer-beater to defeat Hapoel Jerusalem in the semifinal. In the 2020–2021 season, the team spent most of the season at the bottom of the table, and two rounds before the end of the season, the team was officially relegated to the
Liga Leumit, after 34 years in the Premier League. == Fans and arena ==