But a heavy hit hit the Israeli basketball world yesterday with the painful news of the passing of coach and former player Lior Liubin at the age of 46 due to a serious illness he had been dealing with for the past few months.
Liubin is considered over the years to be one of the most respected and beloved coaches in the industry, and as a person who had a consensus thanks to his character and conduct on and off the field.
We talked to players and professionals who were close to Liubin in recent years and we got a picture of a brilliant basketball player who led and taught his players the ropes of the industry, and no less knew how to touch them and make them better people.
Former coach and player Lior Liubin is laid to rest
Photo: Shmuel Buchris
"The news about Lior breaks my heart," says Frank Bartley who played under him in Ness Ziona in the 2021/22 season.
"I played for many coaches in my career, and Lior is one of the best coaches I had. I loved him very much. More than anything, he cared about me as a person. He is one of the few coaches who cared about me even off the field. Mental health was very important to him in athletes and he made sure to bring We have a psychologist to talk to us. I appreciated that, and our relationship was close. Much more than basketball. We had many conversations throughout the year, he always made sure that his players felt comfortable and that was important to him. When I was in bad times, he already knew on his own to recognize it and would approach to me at the end of training and takes me to talk about life. He made me feel comfortable."
Liubin's personality and attitude towards his players helped many young players flourish under his guidance.
"Everybody loved him because of his personality," Bartley recalled wistfully.
"He was like a father figure to me and to many of the foreigners. He didn't shout much and yet he knew how to make the players follow him. His personality was special. I knew he was a great player in his time and it helped me to look at him and learn from him because they saw that he brought with him extensive experience and knowledge. I will forever remember his character, he made me look at basketball differently. I didn't know many special people like him."
Frank Bartley, photo: Liron Moldovan
For Guy Kaplan, coach of Hapoel Gilboa Galil today and Liubin's former assistant in the northern team and Hapoel Beer Sheva last season, Liubin was a key figure in his career and a mentor.
"It is very difficult for me to talk about Lior in the past tense, we were very close. We worked together for three seasons and he was an important mentor for me at the beginning of my career. He is a humble, brilliant person who always helps and helps from his experience. We had many conversations about basketball and life, how to conduct oneself in this industry and the proportions that need to be taken. In the last four seasons we experienced many things together. Lior was a true friend, very close. He was always there to help. He had such a sense that he always knew when to advise and help, whenever I needed him he knew how to call and get ahead of me. I had The pleasure of being there for him and working with him. His way was different, he didn't fight or shout, always calm and respectful. We live in a very exposed world and he always knew how to keep center and balance. He had a brilliant basketball mind. It was impressive to see the peace of mind and modesty ".
"I still remember our first meeting as if it were yesterday. When he was appointed coach at Gilboa Galil, he didn't want me at first as an assistant coach. We met at his house in Tel Aviv and it was a meeting I will never forget. I told him then that I would be his man and that's where it all started, we didn't know each other Before and since then it became a close and real relationship. He spoke to me like a brother, and never gave me a sense of status. He was one of the most significant mentors in my career, Lior was a different class, different. As a coach, I have a lot of work habits that I learned thanks to him."
Guy Kaplan with Lior Liubin,
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Last season in Hapoel Beer Sheva was in fact Liubin's last full season on the lines, during which he was diagnosed with the serious illness.
The forward Tomer Porat who played for him last year talks about the special relationship between them.
"Lior is the first who believed in me and gave me the opportunity to play in the Premier League. A basketball genius and one of the best coaches I played for. I learned a lot from him. A person with sensitivity and class, one who is pleasant to be around. In the middle of last season he shared with us that he was dealing with an illness and it gave us Proportions, he motivated us and helped us understand that we have the right to play basketball."
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