Steven Gray is one of the special players who has landed in Israeli basketball in recent years.
He is calm, quiet and experienced, and you will almost never see him angry or upset.
Hapoel Holon says that Gray rarely leaves the house except for training, games and shopping.
Oh, and he also does not maintain social media accounts like most of his fellow athletes.
"I discovered that life is simpler like this," he tells Israel Today in the first interview since signing for Hapoel Holon.
"My wife has so it keeps in touch with family and friends. For me personally it's distracting and I see it wastes a lot of time on things I don't necessarily want to do, and so I have more free time to do other things.
"Instead I spend a lot of time listening to music, going for walks, watching a lot of basketball from around the world and reading a lot of books. I relax alone and my days go by leisurely. I recharge my own battery."
What books do you like to read?
"Everything. Right now I'm reading about American philosophy and I also have a book about great leaders. On the side, a book is also waiting for me about how men and women run a household together. I also love fantasy and war books."
The quiet and calm character, and the deep life, perhaps a little spiritual one might say, can be attributed to his place of birth and residence.
Gray was born in a small village near Washington, D.C., on the banks of one of the rivers nearby.
About 2,000 people live in the village and he said there were more cows than people.
There were no traffic lights and the nearest food store was a 20-minute drive away.
His father has been working in a paper mill for over 30 years.
He currently lives with his wife and two children in a rural area 40 minutes from Seattle.
Almost all of its neighbors have a farm with animals.
"My neighbors have chickens and turkeys, 7-8 horses, cows and also a farm of vegetable crops. In the field next to the house the horses are released to gallop and the kids 'die' for it. I really like the quiet, everything is slow and the kids can run outside without worries. This quiet. "It was significant during the closure in Corona. It was perfect for me and I felt like I was really reliving my childhood. We had a sense of peace."
Gray, Photo: Udi Citation
From a young age, Gray excelled in his athletic abilities and when he arrived at the colleges he was admitted to the prestigious Gonzaga College where he collaborated with Jeremy Fargo and even slept with him in a room on trips to outdoor games.
"I learned a lot from him and I was in touch with him and followed his career. He is without a doubt the most successful player to come out of Gonzaga. He is one of the best I have ever been around and I thank him for that every moment."
Tell us about the college duel you had with Steph Kerry.
"When we played against him in the collegiate tournament I remember they talked to me before the game and told me I was guarding him. On paper he looked like a perfect matchup for me, but he was the smartest basketball player I ever played against. He made everything look easy and at the end of the first half we understood The mistake we made that we did not prepare for it properly. He was from a small college (Davidson, YM) and we did not think he was that good.
"I remember he had a move he was with the ball, got to the color from the left and went up for a shot, I jumped and he jumped into me and scored with his left hand under my body from the penalty line. I remember thinking at that moment it was the luckiest shot ever. Even then he was talented Insanely, just crazy talent. Suddenly I realized on the scoreboard that he had 40 points, I knew he had a good game but I did not realize he had that much.
"It made everything seem so easy. It's one of the great moments of my career. I had 21 points in fine percentages and in the game itself we were led by 11 points, but we lost after their comeback."
Do you know that Omri Caspi, one of the greatest Israeli players of all time, also had a duel with him in the NBA?
"I did not know. How did it end?".
Caspi scored more, but Golden State won.
"That's how it is with Steph, either he wins or his team wins. He can't lose completely."
curry.
Can't lose, Photo: AP
Sniper non-stop
After graduating from college and not selected in the draft, Gray (32) went to Europe and excelled in almost every team he played for.
He moved to Latvia, France, Lebanon, Croatia, Greece, Bosnia and is now in Israel.
He is especially known for his rare off-the-bow shooting abilities.
In recent seasons he has been hitting around 40 percent to 3.
You have played in many teams and countries during your career. What's the craziest story that ever happened to you?
“In my first year at Greek Priestry (2018/19 season, YM) my kids came to every game.
We played against Eris and their fans came.
In the third quarter a mess started and they started throwing chairs and our fans also threw chairs and my kids were right in the middle and it was crazy.
In all the years in professional basketball, I have not even seen anything like it. "
In recent years, Gray has been nominated several times to come to Israel.
In the summer of 2020 Stefanos Dadas tried to bring him to Holon, in the middle of last season Bnei Herzliya wanted him and at the beginning of last summer Maccabi Rishon Lezion also checked on him, but he ended up in Holon and so far he is an important and central part of the Purple season.
"It starts with the management, they build the atmosphere. The characters of the people they bring as coaches and team to the last players, these are good and quality people and it makes everything easier. We have a team with veteran players who welcome the new ones and it helps me and the team atmosphere."
Speaking of veteran actors, have you ever seen someone like Guy Pnini in your career?
"I have never seen anyone like Guy. He has played for the national team and the Euroleague and gained a lot of experience, he has special qualities that others do not have. He has a feeling for the game and a special way he sees the pitch. He makes things easier for others and is in the right place 99% of the time. "He does not do something positive for the team, so he causes someone else to take positive action. He does not have to play fast, he just knows where to be and that helps everyone."
You are no longer a young player and despite your rich and long career, you have not won a local championship in any of the places where you played.
"There have been three times in my career that I had a good chance of winning and I felt it was a missed opportunity, when you know you can and do not win it is frustrating," he replies and the feeling of disappointment is evident on his face.
"This year we have a chance to do great things. Right now the desire to improve our game and move forward is what keeps us busy. If we go through the road properly I believe that at the end of the season we will be in a good position to win titles."
Holon opened the European season with a big storm with a huge victory in Italy over Brindisi.
Tomorrow (Wednesday, 19:00) she will play in Turkey against Drushpaka and a victory will put her in a great position to qualify for the top 16 from first place at home.
Gray, who has gained a lot of experience in the factory in recent years and is aware of the accomplishments of the Purples last season, is sure he and his teammates have a good chance of going far.
"We are a team with abilities and we have shown what we can do. Of course it will be difficult and there are other very good teams, but I like our chances. We keep well and move the ball well so we have a good chance to progress as much as possible."
In the victory over Ness Ziona, Photo: Liron Moldovan