Lior Eliyahu: “Everybody is waiting for the first Israeli in the NBA”
What are your feelings after losing the Euroleague final against CSKA Moscow?
Lior Eliyahu: First of all, I’m proud for being in the Final Four and proud to be on a team like Maccabi. Of course everybody is sad, and especially unhappy after the game. But that’s natural. At the end you have to be proud to be there and for the way we have played since the beginning of the season.
You played a big role in the semis vs. Siena, but that has not been a common thing with Maccabi this season.
LE: To me it was a big surprise, when the coach came and called my name. It was a big surprise for me and even for my teammates. And you know, I had the chance to play and play well and helped my team win the game.
How do you feel about the lack of playing time with Maccabi? Are you upset about it?
LE: Not upset. Of course I have to work hard to get my minutes. But I know Maccabi is one of the biggest teams in Europe and it’s hard here. It never was easy to get minutes here and it’s still not.
How was the adjustment from playing a lot with your former team to not playing much with Maccabi?
LE: At the beginning it was not easy, but you have to know you’re just one part of the team and it’s not your decision. It’s the coach’s decision. I just have to give 100 percent to see if I can get my minutes.
How was your experience in the last summer league in Las Vegas?
LE: It was nice. I played seven games with the team and had practice with Houston for two weeks before that. And it was a good experience. Now let’s see what happens next year!
What did you learn from that experience with the Rockets?
LE: First of all, it’s just getting a taste of the NBA level. Of course it was not easy, but I got the chance to experience it and I’m waiting for the next time.
Are you going to play there again this summer?
LE: I don’t know yet. We have spoken a little bit about it, but we will see later.
Being the first Israeli player in the NBA… That would be huge in your country, I guess.
LE: Of course. Everybody is waiting. I just want to be there. It doesn’t matter if I’m the first or the second. Of course it would be more special to be the first, but the most important thing is to be there.
Who do you think has the best chance of being the first one? Halperin, Casspi, yourself…
LE: It could be anybody. Cannot say someone in special. Of course, Halperin has already been in the draft… Casspi is going to be there this summer. And then you have me. Maybe it will be the three of us.
You think you have a good shot at getting a contract this summer?
LE: I don’t know. I always say when it comes to the NBA that it’s about being in the right place at the right time. I’m ready for that. I’ve already played at the Euroleague level, I have played one summer league… I think I’m ready for that. I just have to wait for the right time.
How is your current situation with the Israeli army?
LE: I have finished. The rule in Israel is that you have to be in the army between 18 and 21. But I’m already done with that. I finished like one and a half years ago.
Does it bother you that you have to go through that?
LE: They help us in the army. They already know we work hard and that we are important for the team and for the coountry. So they help us a lot in the army. We don’t fight!
giora Said,
May 10, 2008 @ 7:44 pm
Lior,
As an Israeli I would be very proud to see you in the NBA.
However ,considering the minimum amount that you played this year in Europe, you need to play again in the summer league to have any chance of getting a contract.
Hard work might lead to success.
Best of luck. .
Alex Borstein Said,
May 10, 2008 @ 10:18 pm
Jordan Farmar and Nate Huffman are Jewish NBA players.
Iam sure if this guy makes its into the NBA he will be a polished team player and have a good Jump shot. The only thing suspect is can he handle endurance of the NBA season.
NBA is extremely physical. Majority of the NBA players Bone density’s jump of the chart. HE better drink milk. LOL
Their is a mile long list of Euro Busts.
My prediction is he will make it in the league but will not be a star. He will be a mediocre player at best . His Average at the best would be 10pts 6 rebounds , 2 assists and 1 block.
Dov Said,
May 11, 2008 @ 7:07 am
I like Eliyahu, Caspi, and Halperin, but they are far from being “great” players. If you compare them to others who made it (or tried to make it) to the NBA via Maccabbi, like Huffman, Bluthental, Anthony Parker, or even UCONN’s Doron Sheffer, the new trio is hardly worth mentioning - they’re not as good as those who made it and they’re not as good as Maccabbi current stars, who are former NBA players, like Marcus Fizer or Terence Morris.
These guys would have as big an NBA impact as that of another Maccabbi alumni - Maceo Baston (you would be right to ask: WHO?).
David Said,
May 11, 2008 @ 10:04 am
I’m rooting for all three of them. I think Caspi will be the first because of his skillset. He has the potential to be a double-double guy and has a motor that never stops. That kind of play, if put on the right team, could allow him to stay in the U.S. if picked by the right team.
Jonathan Givony Said,
May 11, 2008 @ 11:41 am
Nate Huffman is not Jewish.
DOR SHARABI Said,
May 11, 2008 @ 12:53 pm
I’M LIVING IN ISRAEL AND I SEE LIOR PLAY EVREY WEEK AND HE AND CASSPI THEY ARE VERY BIG TALENTS BUT IN MACCABI IT’S HARD TO GET MINUTES BICAUSE MACCABI IS VERY VERY BIG CLUB AND THEY HAVE MORE THEN MILLION FANS[80% FROM ALL THE BASSKETBALL FANS IN ISRAEL]AND BICAUSE OF THET EVERY GAME I’TS LIKE A WORLDWAR
[AND I'M VERY SORRY IF I'M MAKE SOME MESTAKES BECUSE MY ENGLISH ARE VERY BAD]
Alex Borstein Said,
May 11, 2008 @ 3:12 pm
List of Jewish NBA players
Red Auerbach
Irv Bemoras
Senda Berenson Abbott
David Bluthenthal
Larry Brown
Shay Doron
Jordan Farmar
Hank Finkel
Lawrence Frank
Marty Friedman
Dutch Garfinkel
Ernie Grunfeld
Doug Gottlieb
Edward Gottlieb
Art Heyman
Nate Huffman
Nat Holman
Red Holzman
Ralph Kaplowitz
Louis Klotz
Nancy Lieberman
Harry Litwack
Jerry Reinsdorf
Lennie Rosenbluth
Danny Schayes
Dolph Schayes
Ossie Schectman
Jon Scheyer
Barney Sedran
Neal Walk
David Stern
Banner Said,
May 11, 2008 @ 5:16 pm
HOw long did Nancy Leiberman play in the League? Can’t recall her being the first female to play in the NBA. Jordan Farmar is half black as is David Bluethenthal.
There aren’t any full blood Jews in the league. I didn’t know Larry Brown was Jewish, it explains everything.
James Cohen Said,
May 11, 2008 @ 11:15 pm
Latrell Sprewell is Jewish.
All of David Stern’s people in the NBA office in NYC are Jewish.
Also, 95% of the NBA owners are Jewish.
Dave Said,
May 12, 2008 @ 1:01 am
Guy needs another two years in Europe. Is two physically weak for NBA, needs to gain 15 lbs or so. If the NBA is smart they will RAISE the amount teams are allowed to pay to BUY OUT contracts of foreign players. They can make the amount count against the salary cap if they want, or however they want to do it.
The reason for the NBA’s revenues going up so much is with all the foreign players they are able to get the NBA televised and popular in Europe and around the world. Even if Lior Eliyahu is a bench player, it will get more Israeii’s to watch the NBA, buy merchandise and for NBA’s sposors to market products in these countries.
Yao Ming gets like 5X more All-Star votes than ANYONE even when he has a bad year as there are 1 billion people in China, and many with internet access to vote on NBA.com.
Right now the NBA makes buyout limited to 300k, which means teams wait 5 years or so to get player for his contract to expire.
Lets say team in Europe wants 5M$ for buyout, NBA team can only pay 300K, player can’t pay 4.7M$ if his NBA contract isn’t even that much.
The NBA should just increase the buyout teams can pay to 4M$, and if other teams complain, just make the 4M$ count against the cap over the years of the contract. If it is a 4 year contract, count it as 1M$ each year for those years as if players contract was 1M$ more. The team can even make a deal with a rookie saying, look you are getting a rookie contract of 3M$ over 3 years, but if you become a star and make over 10M$ in your next contract, the first 3M$ over 10M$ goes to pay us back for this, or however they want to structure it.
The truth is NBA teams lose out on foreign players as a result, hurting the NBA’s opportunnity to have a more global audience. ALso it is tough for a team to make a BIG buyout and realize a player doesn’t pan out. There should be a PARTIAL buyout, of RENTIGN a player, you tell foreign team who wants 3M$ buyout, you will give them 3M$ if he makes team, if not they just get $500k for loaning him for the summer league, that way less risk.
Bottom line foreing players like this guy need to lift more weights if they want to get drafted and immediately help an NBA team. Ultimately the league will expand to Europe. They will set up a European division with 7 teams and to make travel easier when teams go on the road (as Texas to Italy is a long trip for back to back games going from TX to Italy then back to NY) what needs to happen is have it like baseball. You got to Italy to play the Italy team for 3 consecutive games or while in Italy you spend a week and play 5 of the 7 Italian teams over that week with 1 day of free time from when you arrive there to the first game so you can decompress. Simlarly when the Italy team plays the US teams they stay in US for 2 weeks at a time and play 8 teams so travel is not a burden.
Ultimately they will do this. They may even have the European teams rotate arenas so the Italy team will play 1/2 their games in one Italian city and 1/2 in another. The NBA should subsidize these teams so if they make less on ticket sales they get subsidy from NBA because of increased money made thorugh broadcasting. Also work something out that makes it easier for that team to get players from that country, force other teams to work something out so if team has a #19 pick and needs #11 to get that guy, they work out an arrangement where they pay the #11 team cash to move up. This will happen. Also work it out to ensure you have European teams in the playoffs. Say the top 4 European teams automatically make 16 teams that make the playoffs. Right now we have 29 NBA teams. Makes sense to not go past 32…so if you want to have 5 European teams, just move two not profitable NBA teams to Europe.
Another thing is in pre-season have more games between NBA Europe teams and other European clubs. Work something out as well where these players in off-season can play for European clubs.
This guy right now would be a late 2nd rder…..that’s jsut not good enough..give him 2 years and let him gain 15 lbs and he’ll be alright. Put him in LA or NY where there is a large Jewish population.
BTW- the myth that Jews are bad athlets is a joke. In the 1920’s all the top athletes were Jews. Black participation in sports began after the great depression when factories were moved out of the inner city. Look at the list of Olympic athletes.
Also Sarunas Jasekivicous who played for Warriors and Pacers is not Jewish (I don’t think) but was a top player in Israel and is married to Ms. Israel.
Part of the reason for no Israeli player in the NBA is that Israel is a VERY VERY small country population wise, and maybe half of the people are Jews. Also the Jewish basketball league just doesn’t compare to the NBA so even a star in that league will have a hard time. This guy in article needs to play in NBA summer leagues to get used to level of play.
Jacob Mushuggana Said,
May 12, 2008 @ 8:47 am
Yes, David Stern was one of the great power forwards and deserves to be listed as an Israeli NBA player. He once had a triple double when he sued 12 companies, hired 15 Jewish lawyers and spun the truth 25 times in one day.
Gabe Said,
May 12, 2008 @ 10:44 am
I never heard of most of those names listed, except for the coaches, David Stern and Farmar. Nancy? Jacob Mushuggana, you cracked me up with the last comment.
flip Said,
May 12, 2008 @ 4:35 pm
jacob, it’s always been the players that run the league, not the commissioner. david stern didn’t make michael jordan, larry bird, magic johnson, kareem abdul jabbar..etc.
stern is not perfect by a longshot. but when you look at david stern compared to the guys who run the nfl and major league baseball, you should be kissing his ass on a regular basis.
Make sure you use chapstick. Your lips got more cracks than your mommy’s wrinkled raisin twat.
jacob, is your momma nancy shmuck? and your daddy’s name is frankie putz? if it’s not, it should be.
Ben Said,
May 12, 2008 @ 5:15 pm
Banner,
Be careful when you toss around being Jewish and “full-blooded” Jewish. You can be black, white, Israeli, Mexican, and Jewish at the same time…or not.
And Larry Brown being Jewish explains what? He saw the NY fiasco unfold before him and made a good move by getting out- he turned around practically every team he’s ever been on (he made the lowliest of the lowly clippers competetive), and he’s won championships @ both the college and pro level.
I hate it how some people focus on such a small snippet of a long career.
bugsy Said,
May 12, 2008 @ 10:17 pm
Really, the players run the league? When Michael was up to his eyeballs in gambling and bad friends, who was the guy that bailed him and the league out?
if it wasn’t for Stern using very ounce of muscle and pull to keep Jordan out of a state pen, not only would his airness, but the entire league’s rep would have been disastrously tarnished.
Eliahu was a bit player for Tel Aviv.
The NBA is one promised land I doubt he reaches.
bugsy Said,
May 12, 2008 @ 10:18 pm
Oh, and not everybody is waiting for the “first Israeli.” I’m saving my waiting for the first Upper Timorian.
Jacob Mushuggana Said,
May 13, 2008 @ 8:55 am
Flip-
You seem to know alot about butts and I can only conclude you have vast experience in that area, including personal experience with David Stern, PF.
Got milk? I bet you do.
Chris Said,
May 13, 2008 @ 6:29 pm
Why are we now talking about the first Jewish players? I thought this article was about Israeli players. Seems that the two have now been combined in all these comments.
Jacob Said,
May 14, 2008 @ 6:09 am
Nate Huffman is NOT Jewish
David Said,
May 14, 2008 @ 6:56 pm
Give me a break! You’re out of your league son…stay where you are.
David Said,
May 14, 2008 @ 6:58 pm
Think he will try to bulldoze Shaq’s house or shoot Hedo in “self defense”??
Martin Knezevic Said,
May 16, 2008 @ 3:09 pm
Halperin has already played in the NBA…..with the S
Noah Said,
May 16, 2008 @ 3:38 pm
headlines… sigh. The subheader for this article says that Eliyahu wants to be the first Israeli in the NBA. Uh, in the interview he says exactly the opposite. When asked if he wants to be the first Israeli in the NBA, he says that no, he doesn’t care. He just wants to make the NBA.
Czarkazem13 Said,
May 19, 2008 @ 3:21 pm
Sorry Alex Borstein (do you work on Family Guy) but it doesn’t matter what list you come up with, Nate Huffman is not Jewish.
BTW, when did Doug “no shot” Gottlieb or Jon Scheyer play in the NBA???
LOL @ James Cohen.
Sprewell? Really. 95%??? LMAO. Never let facts get in the way!
Martin Knezevic:
Halperin played in the Summer Leagues, like Eliyahu, Tamir, Tapiro, Henfeld and others before. Burstein had been invited but got injured.
Alex borstein Said,
May 25, 2008 @ 1:21 am
Czarkazem13 Said,
What are you a retard. Alex is a boys name your turd licker. Borstein is a jewish last name put two and two together. You ass muncher i made a careless mistake. iam Human you smuck.
Czarkazem13 Said,
July 24, 2008 @ 1:06 pm
Damn girl, calm down.
I don’t know where the “boys name” comment is for, but it’s my fault for responding to an apparent 10-year-old.
BTW, Borstein is a German name - not Jewish. Jews didn’t have last names so the Germans (and others) gave them ones. Goldberg, Silverstein and others are German. Levy, Cohen and so forth are Jewish.
Also, it’s schmuck. Saying ’smuck’ you sound like a goy.
Also, there are girls named Alex (though usually seen as Alix), and more importantly, do you work on Family Guy?
PS: Huffman, still not Jewish.
Mark Brisker Said,
December 8, 2008 @ 11:45 am
Nate Huffman is definitely not Jewish