Leads the fight in the Nationals Law • Member of the Management of the Euroleague Players Organization • and mentors the youngsters

• Cohen encourages Reynolds. Plays well in the role of captain

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Until recently, Jake Cohen was another young American American who comes to play basketball in Israel. Maccabi Tel Aviv held it mainly because of its citizenship, and in its first term in Israel he was loaned to Maccabi Rishon Lezion before being released. Hapoel Jerusalem also signed it and immediately lent it to Aris Thessaloniki, and when he finished the season in Greece, the Reds released him and he signed with Maccabi Ashdod. Summer 2017 returned to wearing yellow, and the first season was a direct sequel to the previous term, with only 39 minutes left in the entire Euroleague season.

However, something has changed in the last year and a half, especially since the beginning of the current season. Factors known to the player indicate that he feels much more comfortable in Israel, and sees himself as an experienced player who needs to help others.

Since the Sharabi Commission's conclusions were published in December 2018, Cohen has been leading the fight against the new national law and in fact represents the Jewish actors coming from abroad. He frequently tweets on Twitter against the law, and after the last team game told reporters "I would like you to write and say my stuff" before returning Explicitly explained how problematic the law is when he is told that he is the leader of the citizens, he replies that he represents justice.

Last summer, he was elected as the team representative in the Euroleague Players' Association and a member of the organization's management alongside Kyle Haines, Tornica England and Luigi Datoma, and has since become one of the leaders in Yad Eliyahu. He often talks to the young and new players, advises his friends on investment issues, and even persuades them to join the organization.

After the injuries of Omri Caspi and John Dibertolomeo, Cohen accepted the captain's film and took another step forward in leadership. In each game, he leads the players out of the locker room, and before the parquet goes to them

"We get to hope today".

Cohen. Registering a good career season // Photo: Oded Karni

When there are players who find it difficult to acclimate or others who are in a less personal period, Cohen talks to them and shares his own experience. "He and Rebeli are eloquent, and players feel comfortable with him," Maccabi says. "If Dibertolomeo was a leader by personal example, Jake has a lot of conversations and explanations."

"When a young player enters the locker room and there are no people around him who understand basketball and the process in a basketball team, it's much harder for him to fit in. Someone like Jake helps them," explains assistant coach Tim Fanning. In the previous two seasons, Cohen was Yuval Sussman's roommate in the hotel's outdoor games, and the two are in good contact.

Not just a good person

Usually when complimenting a player or coach who is a good man and praising his character, the goal is to hide the low professional output. Cohen's not the story.

Yes, he does not have the most agile feet in the world, and at Euroleague it is sometimes difficult for him to maintain physical and athletic highs, so there are quite a few games Janis Sparopoulos left him aside, but his social status has also helped him professionally.

The current season is Cohen's best in yellow. He plays the most minutes in Euroleague, and his averages have gone up significantly. Last season he got less than 9 minutes per game and scored 2.9 points; This season, he gets almost 14 minutes, scoring 5.5 points, throwing more threes (1.5 vs. 0.8) and scoring 41.5 percent.

someone to run with

In the Israeli league, this is an equality voucher. He has played the most games this season (20, like Danny Abadia), fourth in the index and the only Israeli in the last eight months to be selected by the league's top scorer this month. The season also set a career record in points (33) and in the index (42).

"In all my years here, I haven't seen anyone like him who's always ready to play - Euroleague, league, coaching game, no matter," Fanning says, "whenever we need him, he's there."

This is also an anchor in the Israeli national team. In the last 11 games his average has been the best in the team - 16 points and 15.8 points.

The source in the details concludes: "If at the beginning of the season there was someone in Maccabi who might have thought of replacing it with another Israeli for economic reasons, the thoughts would disappear completely."