A return that did not happen to Hapoel Jerusalem and a decision to sign with Maccabi Tel Aviv • The offer from Toronto and the only regret • Closing the circle with Nano Ginzburg • And the tears in hope
Pleasant in Hapoel Jerusalem uniform.
"They did not know I wanted to go back"
Photo:
Dudi Vaknin
Toronto, the NBA and the only regret.
"In the middle of the season in Russia, the Toronto scout approached me and asked me to come to them for the summer league. Do you understand? I who played in Rosh HaAyin a few years ago can come to the NBA. He told me to come to the summer league, prove yourself and everything is open. I could.It was a tough season with 90 games and no private jet like the NBA you are at airports all day, no longer remember which league you play in and which city you come to, it was a very Sisyphean experience.I had to end the season there, Do not rest for a second and go straight to Toronto. When you do such a good season you tell yourself I will do another such good season and they will want me again. I will rest, prepare and next summer I will go there. But they did not want me again. Today I can say that is the only thing I may "Feeling we have 'Run out of gas' emotionally and say to myself, 'Yubi, why did you not gather strength and go there? Do you know where this was going to develop?'
The anthem and tears in the team
"Even when I was at Hapoel Jerusalem, in my wildest dreams, I never dreamed of being a player for the Israeli national team. I have one memory of a game against Pakovich's Montenegro in the Yad Eliyahu stadium. 11,000 people in the stands, all blue and white, and we stand in the anthem and the crowd roars. I watched. On the parquet, on the fans and on myself and I really started to cry. I, Yuval Naimi, from Beit Zayit who never expected too much from me, was here wearing the team jersey. It was a special and pure moment. One of my great highlights, more than victory baskets or victories Great. "
Naimi in the team uniform, EuroBasket 2011 // Photo: EP
"Guy Harel should not have lied to me"
"In the summer of 2013, when I returned to Israel, Hapoel Jerusalem CEO Guy Harel called me.
We met, and he told me that they can not pay what I earned in Russia, but only 70-60 thousand dollars.
I told him just fine and we broke up.
The next day, Yotam Halperin signed there for $ 900,000 for three years.
I have no anger towards Harel, and I do not think he did anything wrong.
He just started working in a group, and I'm sure that with the experience he has today he would tell me the truth: 'I have you and Yotam on the shelf, and I decided to choose their home.'
I would shake his hand and move on.
He should not have lied to me.
I was a bit hurt by the situation, especially since it happened in my home group.
This story gave me a seal that I could go to Maccabi Tel Aviv, because before that I did not think to play there in life.
It was clear to me that if I returned to Israel I would only play in Jerusalem, but once they treated me like that - I realized I should do what is good and right for me. "First time the truth comes out. A lot of fans were hurt by my decision to sign with Maccabi, but they did not know the truth. They did not know I wanted to return, but told me there was no money and went and signed another player. I hope they read it now and know the whole truth."
"You really are not a sucker"
"In 2005, I came to my first training session in Givat Shmuel, and coach Nano Ginzburg pointed at me and said, 'Lior, come here.' I looked around and looked for who Lior was. Yuval, Lior, come here. '
At the end of training I went up and said to him:' You see all the players here, I'm not a sucker like them, I'll be a bigger star than all of them. In a triumph with a big contract, we came to the game in the Czech Republic against Nymburk, and Nano, who has meanwhile moved to it, told me: 'You really are not a sucker' ".
