"The NBA was a dream, but I didn't enjoy it enough"
The tempting offer he regretted, and the championship that made him cry.
The meeting last week with Adi Gordon, and the dinner with Omri Caspi before the derby.
The game he will tell his grandchildren about, the criticism that insulted him, and how do you retire without saying "I retire"?
A stick wave separates from the ball in a personal conversation
Ehrle Weisberg
01/11/2022
Tuesday, November 01, 2022, 13:10
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My first memory of the game and the ball.
"Playing with dad on a Fisher Price basket, with a rubber ball outside the house."
How hard is it to say the phrase "I retire"?
"So hard, I didn't even say it... I just said I was stopping playing basketball."
What's scary about being a former actor?
"Not scary. A time and a time for everything. On the contrary, there is even something liberating and happy about it."
The first former player I called after retirement.
"I met with Adi Gordon last week. We have been in close contact for several years, and we even discovered some things in common between us. For example, we both celebrate our birthdays on the same date, only he was born in 1966 and I was born in 1988. For me, he is a companion."
A game I will tell the grandchildren about.
"A decisive game in the Spanish playoffs in 2018, I'm with Gran Canaria in Valencia. We were behind by ten points right before the end, but we won overtime from my two free throws, with 0.00 seconds on the clock. We won and won a ticket to the Euroleague, for the first time in the club's history."
"We met last week. We have been in close contact for several years, and even share a birthday. For me, he is a companion."
Gal Mekel with Adi Gordon (photo: courtesy of the photographers)
The championship that moved me the most.
"Winning with Maccabi Haifa in 2013 was more joyful and happy for me. Winning with Gilboa/Galil in 2010 was something of closing accounts. I started that season at Maccabi Tel Aviv, and the feelings were not only of joy. In Haifa I felt like I was on a cloud. I gave A show, everything flowed, it was in the home hall with our amazing audience. It was purer happiness."
A game that made me cry.
"The championship with Gilboa. It was a powerful year. I started it at the age of 21 as the first coordinator in the Israeli national team, I didn't get a chance at Maccabi and asked to leave back to Gilboa. Although I was already in the team and knew it, I had difficulties with repeated birth defects. When it ended in the championship, everything Get out."
The player I had the hardest time guarding.
"Mike Connelly".
The player who looked after me the best.
"Branko Lazic, in Red Star Belgrade training. He's a hired killer."
"Brandon Wright in Dallas and Josh Evans in Rio Emilia".
A player I asked for an autograph as a child.
"Doron Shafer and Lior Liubin".
The coach who influenced me the most.
"At the personal level David Thorpe, and at the group level Oded Ketch".
A coach I would like to play for but I didn't get to.
"Steve Kerr".
"The first memory? Playing with dad on a Fisher Price basket, with a rubber ball outside the house."
At the age of 6, with his father Alon Mekel (photo: courtesy of the family)
To be an NBA player.
"A dream that came true, but I didn't enjoy it enough. When you're in the loop, as a player in general and in the NBA in particular, you're in a kind of relentless pursuit to prove yourself, to provide the goods, to put up numbers, to please the coaches. Many times we forget the fun of the game, which is the essence the real one".
A story behind the derby with Omri Caspi in the NBA.
"It's a game I won't forget for the rest of my life. The day before we met at a friend's house, and we had dinner together with Jeremy Lin."
The best offer I didn't take.
"Basconia and Hapoel Jerusalem. Both approached me during the year after the NBA. When I was in Florida, I had a long conversation with Uri Alon. He said, 'In the end, you will be remembered for things you will do in your home and in your country.' I made a wise decision and signed with Nizhny Novgorod in the Euroleague. I had an excellent half-season there, and in the summer I received an offer from Baskonia. I thought I would go to Maccabi, and it was spread, until that offer was dropped and I went to Red Star."
"When you're in the loop, when you're in a constant pursuit to prove and please. You forget the fun."
In a Dallas uniform (Photo: GettyImages, Kevin C. Cox)
My greatest success.
"I feel that I am looked upon as a role model. A lot of parents and children tell me that they want a career like I had. Also - four teams I was in, together with me, had the best season in the club's history."
My biggest disappointment.
"The time at the Red Star. Perhaps one of the only times I felt that I didn't give my best, despite a difficult situation I was in. There were also, of course, team disappointments - losing a title with Maccabi, the last European Championship in the team."
The funniest teammate I've ever had.
"Richard Hendrix".
A basketball friend who has stayed with me since childhood.
"Sean Daniel. We were in youth training at Maccabi, he got mad at me and knocked my wooden leg, I couldn't walk for three days. But at the age of 17, when I told him I had the kissing disease, he immediately came to sleep with me. This shows what kind of person and what kind of friend he is."
"Our group from Gilboa/Galil - Avishai Gordon, Goni Yezraeli, Dagan Yebzuri, Elishi Kadir."
"I scored twice from the penalty spot, 0.0 seconds to go, and we went up to the Euroleague. I'll go back there as a tourist, easy."
During his days in Gran Canaria (photo: official website, official website of Gran Canaria)
The biggest compliment I have received.
"In the last week, I received more compliments and messages than after winning titles and after arriving in the NBA. From friends who were with me in elementary school, through parents of players to coaches who I had along the way. A crazy spectrum of people I somehow touched. It's crazy exciting."
The review that offended me the most.
"Someone said about me that I was problematic in the dressing room."
A place I played and I must return to as a tourist.
"Gran Canaria, easy".
Israel's national team.
"Because I played for many years abroad, I was just waiting to come to the national team and play with guys I grew up with, in front of the Israeli crowd, family and friends.
Add to that the great pride of the country that I love so much.
It's a mix that creates excitement, commitment and passion before every game."
The hall I liked to play in the most.
"In Israel - the Tin Hall, in Europe - La Fonte in Valencia."
"Beit Maccabi in Rishon Lezion".
The action I liked to do the most.
"Give".
The delivery I liked the most.
"behind the back".
"Because I was abroad, I was just waiting to come play in front of the Israeli crowd, family and friends." Team Captain (Photo: Danny Maron)
The greatest Israeli of all time.
"financial".
Not Mickey Berkovich?
"You can't really compare actors from different generations. At a time when there were only two foreigners, the Israelis had much more room to express themselves. It's possible that with their virility and character, some of them would reach the same place even today. Each one is exciting in its own way, and in the end you have to look at who was An impressive or perfect career, and not who is greater. When you look at football, I don't understand how there isn't a consensus that Yossi Banyon is the greatest of all."
The weirdest trash talk I've ever come across.
"I'm not open to these things. Always when they spoke to me, I gave some kind of bomb afterwards without moving a muscle in my face, and the player in front of me would understand the message and not turn to me again."
A food I love and I didn't allow myself.
"I really like tahini, and I never ate before a game, because it would sit in my throat afterwards."
Couch wave stick.
Possible combination?
"Maybe, it could be excellent, but I don't see it happening in the view of the teams in Israel."
How would I like to be remembered as an actor?
"I would like to be remembered as a winner, who was always there when you needed him."
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basketball
Israeli basketball teams
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Gal Mekel
