{"id":270602,"date":"2026-02-02T18:49:09","date_gmt":"2026-02-02T18:49:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/270602\/"},"modified":"2026-02-02T18:49:09","modified_gmt":"2026-02-02T18:49:09","slug":"deni-avdija-becomes-first-israeli-to-be-selected-as-an-nba-all-star","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/270602\/","title":{"rendered":"Deni Avdija becomes first Israeli to be selected as an NBA All-Star"},"content":{"rendered":"

(JTA) \u2014 Portland Trail Blazers star Deni Avdija\u2019s meteoric rise has officially reached a new stratosphere, as the 25-year-old forward has become the NBA\u2019s first-ever Israeli All-Star.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

Avdija was named an All-Star reserve for the Western Conference on Sunday, an expected but deserved nod after the northern Israel native finished seventh in All-Star voting with over 2.2 million votes<\/a>, ahead of NBA legends LeBron James and Kevin Durant. Avdija\u2019s breakout performance this season has earned him repeated praise from James<\/a> and others across the league.\n <\/p>\n

Avdija\u2019s star turn began last year in his first season with Portland, when he further captured the adoration of Jewish fans across Israel and the U.S.<\/a> But he took another step forward this season, averaging 25.8 points, 6.8 assists and 7.2 rebounds per game. His points and assists clips are by far the best of his career, and rank 13th and 12th in the NBA, respectively. He\u2019s considered a front-runner<\/a> for the league\u2019s Most Improved Player award.\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

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For close observers of Israeli basketball, Avdija\u2019s All-Star selection is the culmination of a promising career that began as a teenage star with Maccabi Tel Aviv and made him the first Israeli chosen in the top 10<\/a> in an NBA draft.<\/p>\n

\u201cDeni Avdija being named an NBA All-Star reserve is an unbelievable achievement in the mind of every Israeli basketball fan,\u201d Moshe Halickman, who covers basketball for the popular Sports Rabbi website, wrote in an essay for the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.<\/a> \u201cThis is a dream come true for many \u2014 a dream that became realistic and even a must-happen during his breakout season \u2014 but something that in his first five seasons in the NBA never came across as something that was going to be real.\u201d<\/p>\n

Halickman, who has covered Avdija in Washington, D.C., and in Israel, wrote that Avdija is not only considered the greatest Israeli hooper of all time, but perhaps the best athlete to come out of Israel, period.<\/p>\n

Oded Shalom, who coached Avdija on Maccabi Tel Aviv\u2019s Under-15 and Under-16 teams, echoed that sentiment in a recent profile of Avdija in The Athletic<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cEven though he is only 25, I think he is Israel\u2019s most successful athlete in history,\u2019\u2019 Shalom said. \u201cWe\u2019ve had some great gymnasts \u2014 and I hope everyone forgives me for saying it, because we\u2019ve had some great athletes \u2014 but I think Deni has become the greatest.\u201d<\/p>\n

Avdija\u2019s ascension has also come against the backdrop of the Gaza war and a reported global rise in antisemitism, which he has said affects him personally.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m an athlete. I don\u2019t really get into politics, because it\u2019s not my job,\u201d Avdija told The Athletic. \u201cI obviously stand for my country, because that\u2019s where I\u2019m from. It\u2019s frustrating to see all the hate. Like, I have a good game or get All-Star votes, and all the comments are people connecting me to politics. Like, why can\u2019t I just be a good basketball player? Why does it matter if I\u2019m from Israel, or wherever in the world, or what my race is? Just respect me as a basketball player.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now, Avdija\u2019s talents will be on display at the NBA All-Star Game, on Sunday, Feb. 15, in Los Angeles. PJC<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"(JTA) \u2014 Portland Trail Blazers star Deni Avdija\u2019s meteoric rise has officially reached a new stratosphere, as the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":270603,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[85,46,43],"class_list":{"0":"post-270602","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-israel","8":"tag-il","9":"tag-israel","10":"tag-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/270602","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=270602"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/270602\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/270603"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=270602"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=270602"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=270602"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}