20 Things You Need To Know About Danny Abdia

All eyes of the State of Israel are on 19-year-old Danny Abdia, who is expected to be selected tonight (Wednesday to Thursday, starting at 3:00) in the NBA Draft, with all predictions indicating that he will be selected in the opening ten – the first Israeli to do so.

Abdia is coming to the NBA, a special project

We all know what he’s capable of on the basketball court, but how much do you really know about Danny Abdia? Get 20 things you probably did not know about the young star, just before he packs a suitcase and fulfills his NBA dream.

1. A Star Is Born. Born in Tel Aviv on January 3, 2001 and raised in Herzliya.

2. everything stays in the family. Not only his father Zofar (he played for Ramat Hasharon in 1990), he is a former basketball player. His mother Sharon was also a professional actress.

3. Most dude. Danny has a stepbrother from his father’s previous marriage, Andrei. He previously played in the national league in Israel and currently lives in Serbia.

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4. Choose blue and white. Abdia could have represented the Serbian team, but chose to represent Israel with the help of Pini Gershon’s persuasions.

5. Tel Aviv, my dear Tel Aviv. At the age of 8, Abdia started playing in the youth department of Bnei Herzliya. In the eighth grade, they realized that the boy had potential and he moved on to the youth of Maccabi Tel Aviv.

6. The working and winning youth. In the youth of Maccabi Tel Aviv, he won two championships and the state cup under Oren Aharoni.

7. the next star. In the summer of 2018 he was elected MVP of the “Basketball Without Borders” camp held in Serbia in which 63 promising young players from around the world participate. The person who gave him the award was the legendary Greg Popovich. A year later he won the title again, this time at a camp held as part of the NBA All-Star weekend in Charlotte.

8. Positive reinforcement. At the beginning of 2019, he returned to the youth team of Maccabi Tel Aviv to strengthen it ahead of the Euroleague tournament, where he stood out with averages of 25 points, 12 rebounds and 7 assists, and was of course selected for the top five of the tournament.

9. How much? What’s seven? In September 2016, he was promoted to the senior team of Maccabi Tel Aviv and at the same time also played in the club’s youth. Two months later, he signed a long-term contract until 2022. He made his Premier League debut that season and received seven minutes on the field.

10. Hoppa, this is not Europe. In the Euroleague the road of course was not easy. His first game in Europe was in the 2018/19 season against Fenerbahce (less than three minutes on the floor).

11. What did the boy do? In between Abdia won twice (2018 and 2019) the European Championship with the reserve team up to the age of 20. In the first year he was selected to the top five of the tournament, a year later he won the MVP of the tournament when he was only 18 and a half, the youngest to do so.

12. Lieutenant General. Another milestone that Abdia added to the list of titles is winning three championships with Maccabi Tel Aviv.

13. Small on it. At the end of last season he picked up another title, the outstanding award of the season, thus becoming the youngest player in league history to win that title.

14. Player played. If Abdia had not been a basketball player, he would probably have chosen to be a fashion designer or guitarist.

15. Passes screen. In his spare time he most likes to play on the PlayStation. Maccabi Tel Aviv recently opened the MACCABI GAMING group as part of ESPORTS competitions in which he took part as one of the gamers.

16. Area overview. After the season ended in the Premier League Abdia flew to the US, where he stayed in Atlanta for three months in a rented apartment with his agent, giving a good sign, to get used to the American mentality and especially to take part in intense training that could train him for the best league in the world. his family.

17. Food, forward food. His favorite foods are chicken in the oven, shakshuka and mosca, all of which his mother prepares for him. According to his father Zofar, he will also eat stones and grass in a sauce if it is his mother who cooks.

18. The heart is broken. Last summer, not long after Abdia won the European Under-20 Championship, his European agent, Maurizio Balducci, passed away after suffering a heart attack. Balducci still had time to watch Abdia at the championship held in Israel.

19. Money talks. Abdia will have to pay Maccabi Tel Aviv with the signing of the new contract in the NBA team, which will select about $ 350,000. Abdia’s buyout stands at about $ 1 million, but the NBA has decided on a buyout limit of $ 650,000, so this amount will be paid by the team you choose and Abdia will complete the rest.

20. My heart is in the East. Why should Maccabi Tel Aviv not miss Avdia the most? Before every training session and sometimes even after games, he would enter the gym and operate the system at full volume on oriental music.