Where They Are Today - Billy Thompson

From all places it is in the holy city, within the basketball arena of Jerusalem, where you can feel the essence of Judaism, you can still hear Billy Thompson's name echoing all over. Even today – eight years after he left Israel. Why is it so contradicting? Because "The Priest" is not only a nickname anymore for the 42 years old Thompson. For several years now, the awesome basketball player is serving as a pastor for Jesus People Proclaim International church in Boca Raton, Florida. And maybe there is no reason to be surprised. When you hear Thompson speaks, you can sense his great love for Jerusalem, Israel and Judeism – all of these became prominent motives of the church and community he's leading.

"As the head of the church, I'm officiating services in my community, goes to hospitals and pray for the sick and off course doing confessions" says Thompson, "In our church we also celebrate the Shabat. I invest a lot of discovering and studying the Jewish roots of our religion – Christianity. There are a lot of Jewish people that comes to these events and we sing together in Hebrew".

Even though priesthood had become a profession for Thompson, he isn't ready to leave the basketball behind him just yet. Thompson, who was one of the first member of the Miami Heat expansion team between 1988-91, is still loyal to the team and serve as its chaplin. "I pray with the players before games. I pray for them to take the championship", say Thompson, "It's great being with players like Shaquille ONeal and Dwyane Wade. Just to see them play and getting to achievements, make me so excited".

Even today, Thompson see Jerusalem as a significant benchmark in his current career, which started back in the campus of the University of Louisville. Thompson and his friend Milton Wagner led the way to the Cardinals' NCAA title in 1986. He himself claims it happened as a result of divine intervention. "My life turned upside-down in 1985. I would drink a lot, hanging out in parties and my life was full of sin. I detached myself from my Christian education my parents gave me. Then, all of a sudden, I had a revelation. I understood god wants me to return to the right way – religion's way. I stopped with my sins and dedicated with my Christianity studies and basketball".

- Did religion and basketball never collided?
"The two never contradict each other. On the contrary, faith gave me strength. Even in hard days, I knew god is helping, even on the basketball court and that everything is possible because of him".Even though he said he never encountered a conflict between his two loves, Thompson chose to devote himself to religion studies after 1991, when he was released from the Golden State Warriors – his last NBA team – Three years before he first came to Israel. "I started my expertise as a priest two years before I came to Israel, and then I took a break. After I left Israel, I continued with my studies for three more years, started my involvement with my current church, and after a while I became a priest".

Thompson is a believing dedicated man, but in 1994 he stopped his religion studies and went to Israel in the age of 31 to came back and play basketball. Thompson claims that this was a decision taken with god's guidance. It was the second time he revealed himself and ordered him to comeback. The opportunity to do it in Israel is nothing less than a miracle for him.

"After I stopped playing basketball and started my studies in church, I had another revelation – God told me that I need to come back and play for few more years. I told my agent to check my options overseas and it was like a miracle, because the only teams interested were from Israel. First I got an offer from Hapoel Galil Eliyon and Hapoel Tel Aviv. I wanted to play with Milt Wagner in Osishkin, but I hesitated and in the meantime they signed Buck Johnson".

"Amazingly, the next team who approached me was Hapoel Jerusalem and I took the opportunity right away, and went there to be close to Jesus. It was probably a divine intervention. It was like a dream for me, going to such a beautiful country. It was exactly like it was written in the bible and the New Testament. My fears from terror attacks were proven to be false. It safer in Jerusalem than other cities in the US. I remember my wife (Cynthia, a full partner in the church's activity) and my daughter went jogging after sunset. Today it's highly not recommended to do it where we live now".

- Beside of the emotional implications of the journey to the holy land, what was your impression of Israeli basketball?
"Fans in Israel love basketball and understand the game and that’s what makes Israeli teams the best in the world outside the USA. It's amazing that Maccabi Tel Aviv won the Euroleague twice in a raw and Hapoel Jerusalem won ULEB cup. That what proves god support in them".

Thompson also welcomes Pini Gershon, who coached him in Jerusalem, to the family of believers. "I'm happy to hear Pini found god. He always talked a lot and was joking all the time and I love him very much. I also love Doron Shefa and Adi Gordon – I think god connected us and made us a winning team. I remember clearly how we beat Maccabi twice in two cup finals and I'll never forget the winning basket Gordon scored in the last second".

"That's what always did" Thompson recalls, "clearing the way for Gordon to score the decisive baskets. He was the player I ever played with in Israel. Radisav Curcic was my toughest opponent in Israel, when he played with Maccabi. He was really tough. Unfortunately, we didn’t get to the place where I should could have in Europe. We did get to the Korac cup's semifinals, but we lost to a greek team. I was frustrated that we stopped there, because I thought we can win it all.

Usually foreign players confess about their love to Israel, but never come back. Naturally, in Thompson's case, a confession is obligating. He loves Israel with all his heart and will come for a visit with some of his church members from Boca Raton, a "roots trip" in the holy land. With god's help, in the 15th of November, he will have a giant congregation in the basketball arena of Malcha.

"I miss Israel so much and miss the fans" says Thompson, "I want them all to come to the congregation – a salute for Israel. We will celebrate the countries existence and pray for it. There will be music and singing. Hey…those who will come, will hear me sing. I really want to talk about my love to Israel. It is the center of the world for me. It's the foundation of everything. I would like to build a church there and help feed the hungry".

- It looks that you are more Zionist than the common Israeli.
"I would like to be an ambassador for Israel and I'm still hoping some day they will let me do that. Maybe the Knesset will understand I can do a good job in representing the country and they'll give me a citizenship. I hope it is possible, although I had a bad experience in the past. The way that they treated me in the media after I was accepted to the church – this is my only negative memory of Israel".

Well before the big congregation in Malcha, Thompson was willing to leave us with some promising blessings for the future: "I hope to meet all my good friends from Israel soon. Pini Gershon, Danny Klein, Uri Manzur, Morris Ohayon and Adi Gordon of course. I also hope that Ehud Olmert (former Jerusalem's mayor) will be there, he really supported our team. I expect to see all the fans who stood by me through the years. My heart goes out to them and I miss them. I was really happy for them after winning ULEB cup, they deserve it. Hey, I'm sure I can get involved with the team again, as a coach or even as a player. Maybe I can arrange something and bring Shaquille with me. Then we can even beat Maccabi".

- pictures courtousy of JPProclaim church in Boca Raton

where they are today - Roland Houston

There was a time when Haifa was a basketball city, the days before Geovani Roso and Yaniv Katan (Maccabi Haifa soccer players), when a game between Hapoel and Maccabi – derby, Karmel style - would bring a lot of passion, excellent basketball and extreme tension. Days which Roland Houston still misses. "The derbys were complete madness, I really loved it and it saddens me to hear that it has all gone. I feel sorry for the basketball in the city and the Israeli league as a whole", says the player that was the icon of the Haifa scene, and regarded until to day as one of the best foreign players ever landed in Israel.


Today, at the age of 45, Houston serves as an assistant coach in George Washington university in the US capitol, and takes pride of the young talents he developed. "I worked with Rasul Butler from Miami Heat and with Steven Smith and Pops Mensah-Bonso who will be NBA players in the future. Before I started my coaching career, I tried my luck as a player's agent and even went back to Israel to follow some young local talents. But after a short while I realized that its not for me. You can't trust no body in this business".

His lack of trust in the basketball officials already started during the end of this five years Israeli career. Five years, all of them as Hapoel Haifa's player – a leading force in Israeli basketball of those days. Five years which he see as the best of his 14 years as a basketball player. "I left Hapoel Haifa in 1990, after I injured my ankle. After five great years with the team, it was an uneasy breakup, and I left in bad note. A lot of it because of the owner, Yaacov Schlesinger".

It seems that even now, 15 years after he left, Houston still mad about Schlesinger, who invested a lot of money on the team, but was also the first sign of its collapse in the early eighties. "He (Schlesinger) and his right hand, Yossi Livne, ruined the team, which was so close to win the championships in 1989. we had a great team with Jim Jusevic and Guy Goodes and all I wanted is to build on this success and maybe even beat Maccabi Tel Aviv in the year after. Unfortunately, Schlesinger wanted to do everything fast and this is not the way you build a basketball team".

To beat Maccabi Tel Aviv in the playoffs is something a lot of import players fantasize of, but Houston was one crazy shot from actually doing it, in the 1989 semi-final series. It was LaVon Mercer who scored this crazy basket at the buzzer, and ended Hapoel Haifa's season and lead the way to another Maccabi Tel Aviv championship. Houston was the only big man who could cope with former yellows' star, the late Kevin Magee. "I believed we can beat Maccabi and we almost did it" he remembers, "I wanted to be a part of the first team that takes the title from Maccabi and we were very close. It was like David against Goliath".

"I knew they were a good team, but I was confident of myself and of the possibility of beating them. Nobody believed we can do it, but every time we played them I found out that we can beat them. I also knew that they respected us and they knew we could beat them. When we lost after Mercer's shot, it drained us emotionally. It hurt so bad because I gave everything I had and we still missed it. When I look back, I think I can be satisfied because I know I gave it all and well represented Hapoel Haifa and the city. That's the most imported thing in sports".

So Hapoel Haifa lost in the end, and after several years it went bankrupt from its assets and its status at the top of Israeli basketball. That said, Houston assumes that the challenge he and his teammates presented to Maccabi, gave Pini Gershon and Hapoel Galil Eliyon the faith, five years later, that they can beat the perennial champions in 1993 – Something that looked impossible before that series with against Hapoel Haifa.

"The great series we had made teams believe they can beat Naccabi", claims Houston, "When Galil Eliyon actually did it, I'm sure they learned from us. Its just a shame we were not able to do it ourselves, and that is Schlesinger's fault. He waived Jusevic and brought other players who ruined the team chemistry and its building process. He actually destroyed the team with his own hands and with the help of Livne. This lawyer made a lot of money out of me, but when I needed him the most, shook me off. He worked for the players as well for Schlesinger, which resulted are own demise".

It's no coincidence, that one of the few questions Houston still knows how to ask in Hebrew is "eifo ha'kessef sheli?" (where is my money?), a question he was forced to ask over and over again when he was in Israel. When Houston hears about the current owner of Hapoel Haifa (that was united with Ramat Hasharon) – Miki Berkowitz, he is assured that the team will be managed in a better way than with Schlesinger and his kind. "Miki is a professional, who knows the business of basketball from close and he will know how to run it properly".

Berkowitz is one of those players that Houston learned to appreciate over his years in Israel and it seems that a lot of them still have special part of his past. "I had a chance to play against great players in Israel", he says, "In my time, it was a terrific strong league and I'm very sorry to hear it became uncompetitive and that the Israeli talents are leaving it. I remember Magee, and Earl Williams as well as Doron Shefa, Doron Jamchi, Adi Gordon and Haim Zlotikman, who played with me in Haifa. I'm really proud of Goodes, because of his career as a player and coach. You can say I actually raised him since he was a 16 years old kid and until he became a great player and a winner with Maccabi".

Houston also stayed close to the common people of Israel and keeps getting updated all the time about the Middle East's politics, which still interest him, even now in the US, "I loved the people, I loved going to eat fish in Tiberius and spending vacations in Eylat".

"I loved the Israeli experience, even talking about politics. I remember that I was caught up twice in a suspicious object events in the Karmelit subway, and it helped me understand how come the Israeli people can be so nice, but so aggressive at the same time. That time already, I knew it would be very hard to achieve peace and unfortunately, it seems I was right, although I keep praying for your sake and the world's that it will happen eventually. You deserve that. I have a lot of friends in Israel, I had fun there and I got a lot of support from the fans, especially in Haifa".


- photos courtesy of George Washington University Athletics

The NBA Gold Rush

It took some time for the Americans to discover the great potential that is hidden in the far west of their continent. Almost eighty years has gone by since the USA declaration of independence in Philadelphia, which is in the east, until the discovery of the vast gold deposits on the other side – the valuable resource which filled the untouched land of the Rocky mountains and Siera Nevada.

It was those true pioneers who went to look for their good fortune in the 19th century and changed the face of the whole American society forever. Now, in the start of the new millennium, Americans are looking to make some money from the gold hidden in the East – over the Atlantic ocean, in Europe. This time the pioneers are the sports agents, the gold explorers of the basketball world.

Marc Cornstein, 35, is a true New Yorker. Born, raised and educated in the city and works from there in his 'Pinnacle' agency headquarters. A swift peek in his long clients list raise some odd looking names that are even harder to pronounce. That said, there are quite a few GMs who are ready to sacrifice their teeth and a considerable amount of dollars to add them to their teams. Nenad Krstic, Darko Milicic, Primoz Brezec and even Beno Udrih are legit NBA players today. Most of them owe Cornstein their career, he owes them a lot of his good reputation and financial success.

Like Cornstein, Steven Heumann also fell not far from the Big Apple. He did grew up in New Jersey, but crossed the Hadson river on his way to Manhattan, where he is acting as a senior partner in 'EnterSport' agency. Heumann, 31, whom as a teenager worked as a ball boy for the Boston Celtics and spent some time in Yeshiva University, can be proud in as high profiled clients list as Cornstein's.

Along with local talents as Randy Foye (picked seventh in the last NBA draft), he imported Andrei Kirilenko, Tony Parker, Nikoloz Tskitishvili and others to the US. He will try to do the same thing in the future with our Lior Eliyahoo.

Apart of being young, successful agents, that fulfill the dream of every jewish mother as well as their own, the two has another thing in common – they made their big breakthrough with their sharp instincts and willingness to go far away, across the ocean, and to bring back from there the best European talents. Cornstein and Heumann are two of the leading pioneers, the trail blazers of the late gold rush.

From a NY restaurant to Yugoslavia basketball courts
"I was 22 when I finished my studies and started looking my way in the field, that wasn't as popular as it is today", Cornstein recalls his starting point as a players agent, "The truth is I was very lucky. I used to dine in one of the restaurants in New York, where I got to know and make friends with a waiter with a heavy foreign accent. Apparently, he was a former basketball player who immigrated to the US. His name is Spomenko Pajevic. In the end, we both went to Yugoslavia and with his contacts we reached the local players. First, we represented them in Europe, and then we started bringing some of them to America. By the way, in days to come, Semi became the company's vice president".

Serbian Aleksander Radojevic (picked 12th by the Toronto Raptors in the 99' draft) was the first European talent Cornstein brought to the NBA. Since then he imported a bunch of players from east Europe to the main stage of the basketball world. This year for example, he brought to the New Jersey Nets, the young Serbian center Mile Ilic, that will team up with another successful giant of his, Krstic. Other clients, Croat Damir Markota and Vladimir Vermeenko from Belarus were picked in the second round of the last draft.

"When I started working with NBA teams in the late nineties, the trend of drafting foreign players hadn't been developed yet, but it was obvious that scouts were intrigued with the potential. From their point of view, talent is talent, and it doesn't matter if he's from Serbia, Mongolia or Israel. At the end of the day winning is all that matters, that is the only way they value their success. Today it became regularity – the gap had been narrowed and that is great. Today, there are as much as sixty foreign players in the NBA (15 percent of all players) and a lot of them had acclimated and regarded as real stars".

Super-Heumann in Europe
If we are talking about real stars, then it's well obvious that Heumann made it big. Not like Cornstein, who was focusing on Eastern Europe, Heumann traveled all over the continent to bring with him Russian Kirilenko, Turkish Mehmet Okur, French Parker and Croat Gordan Giricek – all are quality NBA players. But the star dust of his players didn't stick to him right away. It took a lot hard work, intensive and gray, especially in the beginning, ten years ago.

"After finishing my studies in NYU, I made the decision to go to Europe", say Heumann, "Naturally, I wanted to see the world after school and I thought it could also be a great opportunity to experience the European market. I knew it would be a better starting point for me, since there is less competition there. If in the US you have one agent for six players, in Europe you have one agent to maybe sixty. At first I was representing players that you never heard of, and I already forgot. That said, it was an opportunity for me to get into business, manage negotiations and making contacts".

Utah's gamble
It might be that the big break through of Heumann also came in the 1999 draft, when the Utah Jazz chose then anonymous Kirilenko with the 24th pick in the first round – 12 picks after Cornstein's Radojevic, that in the meantime vanished from the scene. Heumann gives a lot of credit to the Jazz management, that gave Kirilenko a chance.

"I worked with someone from Russia that told me I have to see this young guy that he found", said Heumann, "We got curious, we bought a flight tickets and came to see him. From first sight it was obvious he will be a great basketball player, but it was obvious he'll need some time, and not ready to be a star right away. The Jazz had time, Karl Malone still played there and they didn't need an immediate replacement. Scott Layden (Jazz GM back then) was interested and was ready to gamble on him. After two years in CSKA Moscow, he went to Utah and the gamble was very successful. But I have to say the Jazz did something that wasn't very common those days, and took a chance on a player on a player they didn't really know".

- How do you shop an unknown talent to a NBA team?
"It’s harder than in the case of young American players, that being followed from close by scouts in the high school and college leagues. When it comes to foreign talents, you need to be more involved as an agent. From my experience, I've learned that in order to succeed in this business, you need to keep you credibility. You can't go around claiming that you have found the next Dirk Nowitzki or Pau Gasol, because you will lose the trust you gained in the past and people won't take you seriously in the future. I hope that I proved my self as a credible professional, and I think that's is why the teams I work with take my recommendations seriously".

Cornstein agree, when it comes to the agent's duty while shopping foreign players to NBA teams: "When you are trying to shop a foreign talent, you need to deal with the skepticism of the American GM's and scouts, that not always familiar with your client. Your job as an agent is much bigger in this case. You have to persuade them that it's a talent worth investing in".

The Americans started doing homework
Although the popularity of foreign players in this millennium had sky rocketed, it seems that lately it getting back into proportions and the team's staff members who was so excited in the past with the exotic scent of players from overseas, became a little bit more skeptic. Side by side of unique cases like the Raptors – your everyday European Team, that made history with picking Andrea Bregniani first in the draft, lately you have teams that prefer to pick foreigners in the late phases of the first round. Usually they prefer to pick them in the second round, where they are not obliged to offer contracts.

One example that raise these kind of doubt between American basketball experts is Darko Milicic, that was picked second by Detroit Pistons in the 2003 draft and since then mostly disappointed. Cornstein, His agent, is not giving up on him and still see a lot of promise in him.

"Darko's biggest problem is the fact that he was picked in a problematic draft, from his point of view. You have Lebron James, Carmelo Anthony, Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade in the same class. It will always stand up against him, but you have to remember he is still very young and full of potential. He proved he is a special player since he left Detroit to the Orlando Magic and also in the Serbian national team. His best is still before and whoever want to see him as a joke, will be proved wrong in a year or two".

That said, it's obvious even for Cornstein that you can't have a bull's-eye with every pick of a foreign player, even today when teams have a world wide scouting crew with their own talent seekers in every corner of the globe. "You can understand the doubts the teams have now, because they got wider perspective about players from overseas. It's not a new trend anymore.
"It's only natural that on every Nowitzki, you'll have a Tskitishvili or Milicic, if someone insist to see him as a failure, but it's not different than high school players. On every Lebron you have a Korleone Young and others like him. You can't expect hundred percents success. Now days, every team needs to do it's homeworks".

"Today every team has an international scouts, and they will look for players everywhere, if it's in Bulgaria, Russia or Nicaragua. Some years ago it was different", say Heumann, "Today Americans give a lot more attention to what could be the consequents of signing a foreign player. Skita (Skitishvili) and Milicic came to the US as unproved talents, not like Giricek, Okur or Zaza Pachulia.

"This is a big problem because the NBA is not a place to develop yourself as a player, they don't have time for that. You have to prove yourself and fast. You need to adjust to the culture and also to the style of game. It you are good and experienced enough, you'll succeed, but if you are not ready, then you'll have problems".

Homecoming or failure in the US
Some of the implications of the weakening of the European trend, is the recent buyouts of stars who was sent back to Europe, after coming short in making a mark in the NBA. Two good examples in this context are Cornstein's Zoran Planinic and Heumann's Arvydas Maceijauskas. The Croatian Guard that almost ended up in Maccabi Tel Aviv, after being cut from the Nets, signed with Tau Vitoria of Spain. The Lithuanian shooter left New Orleans/Oklahoma Hornets after a disappointing season and joined Pini Gershon's Olympiakos Pireus. The agents, maybe not as their clients, are not so disappointed.

"Not everyone can make it in the NBA, that is very demanding form both physical and mental aspects and that's what happened to Planinic, Raul Lopez and Sergei Monia" claims Cornstein, "It not so terrible, because in recent year there is a big change in the European market. Big teams like Maccabi, Panathinaikos and others have bigger budgets and they benefit from the latest Euro-Dollar ratio. When it comes to players from the lower levels, they give competition to NBA teams.

Heumann agrees: "There are some players that come to the US as stars, and they want to play, but the coaches not considering it and not always find place for them on their teams. That what happened with Macas. Byron Scott didn't give him a chance and dried him on the bench. He got really disappointed and was frustrated and you can understand him, although he didn't complain. The European market developed and there are a lot more reach teams that are willing to spend money on good players and the proof is the great contract Arvydas got from Olympiakos".

Saras' opportunity
Other Lithuanian star that didn't really make it big in the NBA is Israeli fans favorite Sarunas Jasikevicius, but it seems both agents agree that his place is in the best league in the world and he should prove it this year with the Indiana Pacers. "He's a good player, although I think he is more a shooting-guard than a point-guard, anyway he need more time to prove himself" say Heumann.

Cornstein sounds much more enthusiastic: "Every player needs some time to adapt and maybe Rick Carlisle will give him a chance this year. I'm a great Saras fan, he was the best player in Europe and he's experienced enough and talented enough to adjust to the NBA game, although it is a different game.

Beno Udrih's Take Off
In this context, It's surprising that Beno Udrih, who is represented by Cornstein, managed to adopt so well to the new reality in San Antonio Spurs much quicker than the more experience Saras, who replaced him in Yad Eliyahoo arena in 2002 "Beno is unique case. Few years ago, when he played for Olimipija Ljubljana, he was regarded as one of the best young point guards in Europe. He did feel he wasn't appreciated enough in Maccabi, although he liked playing there. When he left, he got off the NBA radar during his traveling through Russia, Italy and Greece.

"I first met him in April 2004, and one month later I asked him where he thinks he ought to be drafted, and he said in the first round. I showed him all the draft predictions and he saw his name is not in there. 'This is what you have to face' I told him, 'You have to climb all these levels to get to where you feel you should be'. I have to admit I never so a player so determined. He worked so hard, gave his best and never complained. All the time he kept on asking: 'What is the next thing I need to do?". We managed to get him an invitation to the pre-draft rookie camp in Chicago, although he wasn't on the original players list. In the end, he finished as the camp MVP. Later on he impressed people in his private workouts he had with teams and from that point, his stocks soured and he did the unthinkable – he was picked 28th by the Spurs".

An Israeli affair
Both Heumann and Cornstein are jewish, as well as a bunch of the American sports agents. Almost as inverse ratio to the quantity of jewish players in the NBA. Both of them don't have an explanation to this, but they do hope that Los Angeles Lakers' rookie PG Jordan Farmar, and maybe even Yotam Halperin and Lior Eliyahoo will save the jewish people reputation. As mentioned, the last one is represented by Heumann, who is speaking fluent Hebrew and visits Israel frequently.

"Lior is in an opposite situation of most of the players in his age" claims Heumann, who also brought Ukranian Olexey Pecherov to the Washington Wizards as a first round pick, and matched Eliyahoo to the Houston Rockets with the 44th pick. "During the last to years in Hapoel Galil Elyon, he gained a lot of experience and and valuable playing time. Now he can take it to higher level in Maccabi Tel Aviv. He will practice against better players, in better facilities, and will play in the Euroleague. In any case, the Rockets intend on sending someone who will work with him privately and try to improve his skills".

Heumann, who also represents Yaniv Green and Robert Rothbart, sees great promise in the Israeli basketball market and look at it's promotion as an important cause. "I love Israel and visit it frequently. I would like to help promote the local talents as well as the Israeli league. Obviously, Maccabi is the best team which is also the wealthiest, but I would like to help the other teams, so the league can be more competitive. There are a lot of talents in Israel: Lior, Halperin, Omri Caspi, Rothbart and Yogev Ohayon. As I see it, Tal Burstein, could already be a NBA player, I believe I could have brought him there, if I only I could. I always wanted to represent him".

Other Israeli player that Heumann actually already brought to the NBA is Oded Katash, which the agent take much pride in and see him as a mark In his career. "Katash was the first high-profile player and I did it even though big David Falk (former Michael Jordan's agent) was courting him. It brought me great pride, especially since I got him a contract with the New York Knicks in 1998, unfortunately the Lock-out during that year prevented it from being implemented".

And what about Cornstein, who have been in Israeli only once as a teenager? He is not representing any Israeli at that point, but would be happy to do so and be more involved with the local market. "I'm sure my mom would be happy if that will happen" he says about the land of milk and honey. Who knows, maybe sometime they will find some gold in our country.

Where They Are Today - James Terry

If you were in Israel sometime during the last two decades, you probably noticed James Terry's name. not only because he made himself a name as one of the best big men that ever played here, but most of all because he spent not less than 13 years here and been all over the country.

You can say Terry is still Israeli, by heart and passport. That said, today, you can say that the 44th years old center as a former Israeli and past player. That takes nothing from the vast experience and great memories he gained with us in the Mediterranean – he agreed to share a lot of them in a conversation from his home in Maryland.

"Since I left Israel, I started a family", Terry recaps his last eight years, "I have two young children – 6 years old Lauryn and 3 years old Isaiah. I assume they'll both be big as their father and I'm very proud of them. I work as a construction supervisor, and spend my spare time fishing, something I really enjoy. I'm still big and strong, and I'm still in pretty good shape. Sometimes, I pick a ball and go to play in the neighborhood. If you ask me, I'm sure I could make a comeback in Israel, and give twenty minutes of defense and rebounding. If someone will call, I sure will be happy to come back and play in Israel".

Terry started his Israeli career in Maccabi Haifa and finished it in 1996 with Hapoel Zefat, between those two teams, Terry played in Hapoel Holon, Hapoel Tel Aviv, Hapoel Nahariya and Hapoel Eylat. During that time, he tried his luck in Italy, Spain, Greece and Argentina, but always came back to holy land. "Nahariya was the place where I had the most fun" Terry admits, "It was real fun because the team just started and nobody really expected us to win, so there was no pressure. When it comes to basketball, I liked to play for Holon and Hapoel Tel Aviv. That's where I had my biggest achievements as a player in Israel and Europe".

Throughout his time in Israel, Terry encountered problems with teams that don't pay salaries on time – something that became a chronic sickness of the Israeli league and probably is one of the reasons for its decline. "In the 1989-90 season, I felt we had a very good team in Holon, one that can really compete with Maccabi Tel Aviv. We had Desi Barmore, Gary Plummer and the outstanding guard Kevin Williams, and that gave us a pretty good chance. The problems started in the late stages of the season, when the management ran out of money. It's not that I'm mad at the team's president back then, Mishka Lapardon, but he ran out of money in the middle. That's what bothered me in Israel. Everybody promise you stuff they can't stand for. They make a budget, but can't keep up with it. After that they tell you 'mahar…mahar…(tomorrow… tomorrow…)', but in the end of the day you don't get what you deserve".

- Not much has changed since those days. How can you solve that?
"Maccabi kills the league, but to make the Israeli league better, you need to invest money. In the end, everything comes down to that, and if you don't have money, then you shouldn't promise something you can't afford. The problem is that you have so many good people that cares for their teams, but they don't know a thing about basketball. If you have a certain amount of money, bring the best players you can afford but not more than that. At least you know that you can pay the players, and they will give you all that they got. And feel dedicated to you. Maybe you won't get stars on your team, but at least they won't break and leave in the middle of the season".

Terry, how surprising, first came to Haifa after he was officially converted to Judaism, a common practice in the early eighties reality, when teams could play only one foreign player. Greg Cook was signed and Terry insisted on joining, even with the price of converting his religion. This step, like many others, sparked public criticism against the nationalized foreigners trend that gained momentum during that decade.

"I went through the conversion process because I wanted to play in Israel", Terry admits, "I enjoyed my trip to the country and in order to join Haifa I needed to be granted citizenship. I know there was criticism about the nationalized players and I can understand that. Even nowdays there are American players complaining that NBA teams pick Europeans that takes their jobs. I think it's not justified in my case, as well as in Aulcey Perry, Earl Williams and the other veterans case. If we were getting our citizenship and running away after one year I would accept the criticism, but In my opinion, we stayed in the league for many years and we helped to improve it. Anyway, personally, I didn’t let it get into me".

- Even though you got your citizenship, you declined the invitation to play for the Israeli national team.
"I was invited to take part for the NT three times, but declined them all. Thinking back, I regret it because it could have been a nice experience to play in an international tournament at least one time, but I was a young man and I missed my family in the US. The season in Israel is very long and the summer vacation was the only opportunity to try and spend some time with my close ones. I think I also needed it in order to stay fresh and charge myself with new energies. It helped me coming back to Israel year after year and stretch my career for such a long time".

Terry might not played for the Israeli national team but he got enough opportunity to feel how it feels like being an Israeli, as a player and as a citizen in all kinds of situations. One that stands high above the others, was his visit in Auschwitz concentration camp, with Hapoel Holon in 1987. "I feel lucky to have this opportunity to visit Auschwitz", Terry recalls, "It was a very important and emotional event for me and it made me understand how it feels like being Israeli and Jewish. I know how much evil came out of this place and it was very sad for me, but I do happy I visit there. You can read about it in books, but it can't really demonstrate what really happened in that damned place".

Another Israeli experience was his army service in the IDF, which was short, but exhausting. "The army was definitely an experience, although I wouldn't want to repeat it. I don't even remember how much time I spend there in the base, but I do remember every day was too long. I remember the desert, the cold showers and the food, that was awful. We learned how to shoot a M16 and how to dismantle it, but all the time I just wanted to finish it. At least I met a lot of friends there, because, like me, there were some other nationalized players that were forced to get drafted to the army. I found a lot of people there".

During his time in Israel, he found a lot of American friends like Keith Bennett, who is remembered as Terry's twin brother, and Joe Dawson. "I was blessed meet a lot of good friends in Israel and good friends are not something that someone have too much of. Joe for example is a great friend who was also a good player". Other players that Terry remembers as true greats are Kevin Magee, LaVon Mercer, Gary Plummer, Roland Houston and Andre Spencer.

- Do you have any bad memories from Israel?
"I don’t really have bad memories, maybe one strange one. When I was with Hapoel Tel Aviv we went to a game in Greece. While we were waiting to take off, the plane's engines started burning and everybody panicked and looked for their bags. I remember someone started shouting at us to leave our luggage and just evacuate. In the end the fire was extinguished and everything was fine. Eventually, you can say it was kind of funny, since we had to take back the same plane to go back home to Israel. Anyway, we weren't too happy with that".

So, if we'll exclude the bad memories from that scary incident, or the financial problems, it seems Terry has only good things to say about us, the Israelis: "The country is still deep in my heart, and even these days I'm getting updated with everything that goes on there, and I still cares a lot about it. I spent there a big part of my life as a young man and adult. I miss the beaches and the nightlife and especially to the fans. People in Israel were always willing to help, whether if you got stuck with your car at 3 am or just if you are hungry. I want to thank everybody for the memories and for that they always made me feel at home. They treated me so nice. They are great…as long as you win. They make you want to put on a show, and I, as everybody knows, always wanted to have a show".