As Maccabi Ma’ale Adumim are gearing up for a huge Leumit League game up at Maccabi Haifa on Tuesday evening (20:00) they are coming off of one of their best wins of the season this past Friday when they defeated Elitzur Yavne 81–66 at home and improved their record to 7-19. While Ma’ale Adumim moved up a spot to 14th place they are still at risk of being relegated as the bottom three teams will move down a division at the end of the season. However, the win boosts the team’s chances of survival as they’ve been on an upward trend recently and the player who clearly sparked this turnaround is new recruit Jared Billups.

The 23-year-old guard (1.93 m) is the cousin of NBA legend Chauncey Billups and he impressed in his debut in Israel with a huge performance scoring 33 points on 8/18 shooting from two-point range and 17/20 from the free-throw line (!) without attempting a single three-pointer. He also added 11 rebounds, 3 assists alongside 3 turnovers, 2 steals, 2 blocks, drew 12 fouls, recorded a 44 efficiency rating and a +14 plus-minus in 35 minutes.

It was a dominating performance by Billups from the get go as he made his mark on the game early and often as he opened the contest with a dunk, closed the first quarter with a basket in the paint to give his team a 20–11 lead, reached 15 points by halftime (49–29) and continued to shine with 18 more points in the second half. Billups has already become a fan favorite among Ma’ale Adumim’s young supporters, who cheered him on enthusiastically.

After the game, The Sports Rabbi spoke with Billups, who began this campaign, his rookie season as a professional in Europe with Finland’s Tampereen Pyrintö. Prior to that, he played in college with the Siena Saints (2021/22 and 2022/23) and George Mason University (2023/24 and 2024/25), where in his final season he was named Defensive Player of the Year in the Atlantic 10 (A-10) and was one of 30 candidates for the national college Defensive Player of the Year award.

Billups attracted interest from Hapoel Holon of the Israeli Premier League which was confirmed by both Ma’ale Adumim and Holon, but he was already under contract with a second-division team and made his debut that will be remembered for a long time.

“It feels amazing,” Billups began after the game in which he also wrapped up the Player of the Week award.” First I want to obviously give thanks to God for just allowing me to have this opportunity just to be here and happy to get the win.”

With the ceasefire in effect with Iran, Billups explained why he decided to sign in Israel, “I just thought it was a good opportunity. I talked to God about it, he led me here and I’m thankful to be here.”

There is no question that Jared has some of the on court qualities that made his cousin Chauncey Billups an all-star and NBA champion, “That’s my cousin and obviously the things he’s done in the NBA, I can only dream of being there. It’s really just inspiring, especially growing up, seeing him in the Nuggets, Detroit, even the Knicks for a little bit. It was just beautiful to see.”

As for goals, he hopes that by signing in Israel with Ma’ale Adumim he’ll be able to to work his way up the ladder, “Hopefully, that’s the plan. I came here for the opportunity, just seeing what I can get out of it. Honestly, I want to play at the top. Euroleague, NBA, that’s the goal, and however long it takes me to get there, it’s in Gods’ hands, it’s not in my hands.”

“My agent got me here. They actually texted me in the middle of the Finland playoffs, I was playing well and it was ‘Oh, have an opportunity here for you’. I told them, ‘give me a couple of days to decide, let me fast and think on it’, and it led me here.”

There is one thing for certain, Billups made not just a good first impression, but an excellent one as it’s clear he has a terrific future ahead, “Like I said before, it’s just all glory to God for allowing me to be here and giving me the gift.”