![\"\u05d3\u05e0\u05d9](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/BJ32qYpuMe_0_0_1300_1770_0_x-large.jpg\" "\\"Deni")
<\/a><\/p>\nDeni Avdija <\/p>\n
(Photo: Shai Yehezkel)<\/p>\n
But success comes with sacrifices: another holiday away from home, more time with family and friends lost, and a routine that can be deeply lonely. At 25, Avdija understands exactly what the dream he is living demands of him, even if missing home has not become any easier.<\/p>\n
\u201cI really miss this holiday period. It\u2019s such a fun time in Israel,\u201d Avdija says. \u201cYear after year I get older and understand that this is my life and this is what I signed up for. I sacrifice a lot and I\u2019m aware of it. I\u2019m a very family-oriented, warm person who loves being around people, especially during the holidays, but I also know I won\u2019t play basketball forever and I\u2019ll have plenty more holidays. There\u2019s a lot of loneliness, but fortunately I have good people around me who are willing to sacrifice their own time and come visit me, and that\u2019s great.\u201d<\/p>\n
If you had to explain the Israeli holiday season to the average American, what would you say?
\n\u201cTogetherness, family, equality.\u201d<\/p>\n
Equality?
\n\u201cWhen you\u2019re at a meal and everyone is sitting around the table together, it doesn\u2019t matter how much money you have or don\u2019t have. In the end, it\u2019s you and the people you love most, all together, and you have the privilege of meeting, talking and catching up.\u201d<\/p>\n
Everyone is summing up the past year for you. How do you sum it up?
\n\u201cIt was a surprising year for me. I didn\u2019t really know what my limits were as a player. I didn\u2019t truly know how far I could go or what my ability could produce. At the end of the season, I blinked and looked at everything that had happened along the way, and I couldn\u2019t believe I\u2019d had the opportunity to break through so many glass ceilings in a single year. Obviously the standards are higher now, but it\u2019s fun knowing you\u2019re capable of things you didn\u2019t necessarily think you would achieve.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople lost a little perspective. I\u2019ll be the first one there for the national team. The national team has given me so much, and I owe it so much. Yes, I missed two windows, and yes, the team needed me, and it really wasn\u2019t easy watching from the outside. But saying I\u2019m obligated to come no matter what?\u201d<\/p>\n
How would you describe this season in one word?
\n\u201cEducational. Overall, I think I was in a position I\u2019d never been in before, and I learned a lot from it. I learned what it means to be a leader. I learned what it\u2019s like when teams try to knock you out of your rhythm every game and get inside your head. And with all the pressure and craziness there was in Israel around everything, you learn a lot about yourself because you reach places and heights you\u2019ve never been before. That brings a lot of responsibility and expectations. People and teammates look at you differently, and you have to learn how to deal with all that. It isn\u2019t simple.\u201d<\/p>\n
And heading into the new season?
\n\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of excitement. I feel like I had a good summer and was really able to recover from last season and from the nagging injury I had, and come back refreshed mentally and physically. I don\u2019t really know what will happen. There\u2019s a new team, a new owner, a new coach, but I believe in the team and I want us to succeed. I\u2019m coming in with a lot of hope and optimism.\u201d<\/p>\n
Avdija\u2019s road to this point began long before he became a familiar name in the NBA. He grew up in Maccabi Tel Aviv\u2019s youth system and made his debut for the senior team at 16, going on to play three seasons there.<\/p>\n
In 2020, he made the leap everyone had anticipated when the Washington Wizards selected him ninth overall in the NBA Draft, the highest draft position ever for an Israeli player. After four seasons in Washington, he was traded to the Portland Trail Blazers in the summer of 2024 while playing under a four-year, $55 million contract, and gradually developed from an intriguing prospect into one of the team\u2019s central players.<\/p>\n
After a season in which almost every professional limit he knew seemed to shift, capped by his first career All-Star selection, Avdija enters the new year from a very different place. Success has made him far more recognizable and important as a player, but perhaps the bigger change has taken place away from the court. Distance from home and a life that has forced him to mature quickly have changed the way he looks at himself.<\/p>\n
You\u2019re only 25, but you\u2019ve already been through things some athletes don\u2019t experience in an entire career. In what sense do you feel more mature?
\n\u201cHonestly, this year I felt the most mature I\u2019ve ever felt. The way I conducted myself here was very different. I spent much more time by myself, looked less for reasons to go out and do things, and focused more on finding the mental quiet to calm down. I learned how to be my own best friend, spend a lot of time with myself and understand what I really want from Deni away from the court.<\/p>\n
\u201cI understood a lot of things this year, and a lot of things clicked for me along the way, whether about career choices or people. I\u2019m a much more private person now, more discreet. I\u2019m not someone who likes sharing much about his personal life.\u201d<\/p>\n
When do you actually feel your age? \u201cI\u2019m not desperate to show that side to the public, but over time I think I\u2019m becoming a little more comfortable. Everyone has lots of layers and sides. Sometimes there are better sides and not-so-good sides. That\u2019s legitimate. I have sides that are less good too.\u201d<\/p>\n Basketball was part of Avdija\u2019s home long before it became his profession. His father, Zufer Avdija, played for the Yugoslav national team and captained Red Star Belgrade, while his mother, Sharon Artzi, who grew up on Kibbutz Beit Zera, was also an athlete and basketball player.<\/p>\n He grew up in a home where competitiveness, discipline and sport were part of everyday life, but where family remained the central anchor. Between his father\u2019s Balkan toughness and the extremely close relationship he has often described with his mother, Avdija grew from a basketball-obsessed child into a player whose career has gone far beyond what even a sporting family might have imagined.<\/p>\n \u201cI think I had more room to make mistakes when I was 18,\u201d he says. \u201cI felt like I could be more of a kid. I had already entered the adult world, but I still had room to fool around, make mistakes and really figure out who and what you are. Eighteen is a fun age because you\u2019re discovering yourself, and you\u2019re younger, so you look\u2026\u201d he says, laughing. \u201cNow I take better care of my body and my lifestyle. There\u2019s more awareness.\u201d<\/p>\n Is there anything you regret from that period? \u201cIt was a period that wasn\u2019t easy for me. I knew I was dependent entirely on basketball. It was do or die for me, and I went all in. There was a lot of stress. I didn\u2019t know where my career was going, what I could do or whether it would support me financially.\u201d<\/p>\n If I take basketball out of your life right now, who is Deni? \u201cIf you take basketball away, there\u2019s a deep person there with broad general knowledge. When I\u2019m in the U.S., if there\u2019s a subject I want to learn about, I just go on YouTube and learn about it. Most of the things I learned at school didn\u2019t interest me as much, but now, in real life, if something interests me, I research it.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re in a period where, let\u2019s face it, people don\u2019t exactly love us, to put it mildly. Everyone knows I\u2019m Israeli, and I try to be the good Israeli, the guy who gets along with everyone, who\u2019s cool, funny and decent, and show that there\u2019s another side.\u201d<\/p>\n Like what? \u201cI also love airplanes. I wanted to understand how a plane lands. If something interests me, why not? I have free time. When I\u2019m in hotels or at home, without friends or other people around, I have a lot of hours in the day when I\u2019m not just sitting there scrolling on my phone.\u201d<\/p>\n What do people think they know about you but get completely wrong? \u201cI genuinely respect everyone. It doesn\u2019t matter who or what you are. I give everyone respect and time. I feel like that\u2019s also part of being Israeli.\u201d<\/p>\n What\u2019s harder for you today: finding quiet or allowing yourself to be quiet? You\u2019re also doing a lot outside basketball, from campaigns to the ice cream brand you created. That\u2019s very different from the typical Israeli athlete. \u201cOur sports culture is a little lacking. Forget about me for a moment. I\u2019m in the NBA and have exposure that others don\u2019t. There are athletes here who work unbelievably hard and achieve major things, but in the end we give a platform to people who I\u2019m not sure are the ones we want the next generation learning from.<\/p>\n \u201cInstead of teaching our generation excellence, hard work and perseverance, today you go on a reality show and land advertising campaigns. And that\u2019s fine, I\u2019m not disrespecting anyone, but there are athletes here who are killing themselves to get where they are, and it bothers me to see them not getting the credit they deserve.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd it\u2019s not only athletes, by the way. Musicians, television and film actors too. I\u2019m sure there are plenty of people who don\u2019t get the opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n Is there anywhere you manage not to measure yourself? \u201cAt the end of the day, the things I say in interviews are who I am. Whether people connect less or more with the things I say, that\u2019s my personality. I\u2019ve stopped trying to please everyone. Whoever likes Deni likes him, and whoever doesn\u2019t, doesn\u2019t. That\u2019s OK too.<\/p>\n \u201cI try to do as much good for people as possible. I\u2019m improving as a person, and if I make a mistake, I apologize for it. Most of the time, I\u2019m at peace with the things I do.\u201d<\/p>\n When was the last time you did something you were really bad at? \u201cNo, no,\u201d Avdija quickly says in his defense. \u201cI cook well now. My friends will tell you I\u2019m a great cook. The omelet was four or five years ago. I\u2019ve improved since then. My friends say I make restaurant-level bolognese.<\/p>\n \u201cMy mother is an amazing cook, so I grew up around food. I love going to restaurants. Just recently I was at a restaurant in Tel Aviv and really loved the pasta with tomato sauce. I went over to the chef and he said, \u2018Take my number. I\u2019ll teach you how to make it.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Alongside Avdija\u2019s interests in cars, airplanes, cooking and those moments when he is simply trying to be a 25-year-old, there is another side to his life, one with far less lightness. As his status grows, so do the pressure, expectations and need to find people and places where he can briefly lower his guard.<\/p>\n How do you deal with all the pressure? \u201cWe started talking about things from the root, things that happened from eighth grade onward, things from childhood that suddenly came back in a slightly different form. He\u2019s known me since I was little, and we suddenly started talking weekly, and he really helps me.<\/p>\n \u201cHe never sugarcoats reality for me, and that\u2019s why I think it worked better for me than a psychologist, because with a psychologist you come to unload, but they don\u2019t really know you or haven\u2019t experienced your career.<\/p>\n \u201cOded is someone who watched me develop every day as a kid. He understands my mind and knows my patterns, so it\u2019s much easier for him to get to the root of things.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI feel like a lot of people think I\u2019m a snob, maybe because of my height and sometimes my style, but the image I project on the outside is the opposite of who I am inside. I\u2019m the friendliest person in the world. I love people. That\u2019s also a little bit part of being Israeli.\u201d<\/p>\n Who do you call when things are really bad? \u201cI think she\u2019s a witch. She knows things before they happen. My friends who understand what a mother\u2019s intuition is will also tell you she\u2019s really something unusual.\u201d<\/p>\n What stays with you more, 100 compliments or one hurtful comment? \u201cBut that\u2019s good, because I think that\u2019s what keeps us on our toes and makes us improve all the time. I know my height and size can be misleading, but I\u2019m actually quite a sensitive person.\u201d<\/p>\n You\u2019ve said before that music is your way of turning inward. A song you especially love? If they made a movie about you, what would be on the soundtrack? \u201cThe whole movie could be about the journey, the successes, the difficulties, the pressure and expectations that come with a career like this, but in the end the important question is who you remain through all of it.<\/p>\n \u201cThe song is about the most basic things: being a good person, staying true to yourself, not letting money, status or success define you, remembering where you came from and finding happiness in the things that really matter.<\/p>\n \u201cI love that it isn\u2019t a song saying, \u2018I reached the top\u2019 or \u2018I beat everyone.\u2019 It\u2019s the opposite. It says that after all the noise, what really matters is remaining simple, authentic and at peace with yourself.\u201d<\/p>\n Do you miss being able to walk down the street without anyone recognizing you? \u201cWhen I go somewhere, I want to sit with my friends and focus on them and our conversation, enjoy myself and laugh. At the end of the day I\u2019m a person. There are days when I wake up and don\u2019t feel like seeing anyone.<\/p>\n \u201cBut I think I\u2019d actually be upset if I walked down the street and nobody recognized me. That would worry me more. I\u2019ve been blessed that people look at where I\u2019ve reached and want to get there too. That means you\u2019re doing something right.<\/p>\n \u201cI think I saw how insane the support is, and how much strength our people have, when All-Star voting opened. I checked the voting for the first time and suddenly saw that I had more votes than LeBron James. I saw 2.6 million votes. That\u2019s crazy. It\u2019s a third of the country.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was just fun. I\u2019m not sure I would have gotten there without all that support. I hope this won\u2019t be the last year people support me like that.\u201d<\/p>\n Deni Avdija at the NBA All-Star Game alongside Kevin Durant <\/p>\n (Photo: Jesse D. Garrabrant\/Getty Images\/AFP)<\/p>\n And during the All-Star Game itself, did you manage to stay in the moment and enjoy being on the court? Even in the rare moments when Avdija manages to disconnect, it is difficult to completely separate Deni the private person from the public figure he has become.<\/p>\n In recent years, and especially since his breakthrough last season, he no longer represents only himself. Almost every arena he enters also carries the weight of his Israeli identity, at a time when that identity is more complicated and politically charged than ever.<\/p>\n \u201cI feel like Israeli sports looks at me under a magnifying glass,\u201d he says. \u201cA lot of people are looking at my path, and I understand that I have to set an example.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"\u05d3\u05e0\u05d9](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/rJzhnqKaOGx_0_0_2074_3000_0_x-large.jpg\" "\\"Photo:")
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\n\u201cWhen I\u2019m with people I love. I\u2019m very much a kid. I have a big sense of humor and I love to laugh. I have a childish side that the people closest to me really know, but in front of the cameras or on the court I usually can\u2019t show it that much.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cI wasn\u2019t the best student in the world. I\u2019m not someone who cries over spilled milk, and I don\u2019t regret anything, but intellectually I think I had more potential than I showed at school. Other things interested me then, and I couldn\u2019t really concentrate.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cI use basketball to do things I love, whether it\u2019s traveling, meeting new people, being creative or starting things. Maybe I don\u2019t have as much time as I\u2019d like for all the things that interest me, but I have a lot of interests.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cThe whole world of classic cars. I really like learning how a car works and about all its parts. It\u2019s an entire field of knowledge. People look at mechanics and sometimes think it seems easy, but it\u2019s a really interesting profession.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cI feel like a lot of people think I\u2019m a snob, maybe because of my height and sometimes my style, but the image I project on the outside is the opposite of who I am inside. I\u2019m the friendliest person in the world. I love people. I can get into an elevator with a complete stranger and start a conversation.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cAllowing myself to be quiet. Once you become a more recognizable player, your commitments grow, whether to companies you represent, projects you\u2019re building or people around you. In the end, there\u2019s only a small slice of the pie left for yourself. You become a little more everyone else\u2019s. That\u2019s just how it is.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\u201cThe market here in Israel is tougher and smaller. I feel athletes aren\u2019t appreciated in Israel the way they are abroad. We do love our athletes, but there are a lot of people doing incredible things who don\u2019t get a platform.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cI\u2019m super competitive and I really love succeeding for myself. Over the years you understand there will be better seasons and worse ones, but I don\u2019t think I measure myself as a player. I measure myself as a person.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cMaking an omelet. The last omelet you made was absolutely terrible,\u201d his agent, Matan Siman Tov, answers for him.<\/p>\n![\"\u05d3\u05e0\u05d9](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/r1lIpYTOzl_0_0_3000_1688_0_x-large.jpg\" "\\"Photo:")
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\n\u201cWhen I first came to Maccabi, Oded Shalom coached me. Heading into my fourth year in Portland, when things started becoming a little more difficult for me, he called me.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cMy mom. She knows everything. I can\u2019t hide anything from her. I\u2019m an only child, so all her focus is on me and she knows me so well.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cAs you go through life, you train yourself to think positively. But in the end, when someone says something negative about you, especially if it comes from someone important or close to you, it stays with you.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cI have a really nice habit after games. I put a Bob Marley record on the turntable and eat dinner. I feel like he\u2019s so positive in his songs that it suddenly disconnects me from everything. I feel like I\u2019m some surfer from Jamaica.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\u201c\u2018Simple Man\u2019 by Lynyrd Skynyrd. To me, it represents something much bigger than basketball.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cIt makes me feel amazing when people support me and love me, but every once in a while I want to go to the market on a Friday. Say I want to go to Yamit 2000 water park now. I always have to think tactically: how many people will be there, whether I should take a table in the corner.<\/p>\n![\"\u05d3\u05e0\u05d9](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/H1Q32cK6dfe_0_0_1181_787_0_x-large.jpg\" "\\"Deni")
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\n\u201cNo. It was my first All-Star Game. There\u2019s no way around it, you\u2019re paying attention to everything except the game. I was looking at everything: the stage, the players beside me, the crowd that had come to see me.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"\u05d3\u05e0\u05d9](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/SJbh2qYTOfe_0_0_1300_1950_0_x-large.jpg\" "\\"Photo:")
<\/a>![\"\u05d3\u05e0\u05d9](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/rkLNTYpOMe_0_0_3000_2000_0_x-large.jpg\" "\\"Deni")
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