Maccabi Tel Aviv welcome the back-to-back Euroleague champions Andolu EFES for a Round 16 matchup on Thursday night (21:05) at Yad Eliyahu. The Yellow & Blue enter the contest sporting a 8-7 record good for 8th place, the last playoff spot while the Turkish squad have the identical record and sit in 7th place in the standings.

Despite the fact that Ergin Ataman’s team is just one game over .500, Oded Katash’s squad will have their hands full with arguably the best roster in continent with not only stars aplenty but also some very familiar names to Israeli basketball aficionados. Ante Zizic returns for the first time after playing two seasons with Maccabi Tel Aviv while Elijah Bryant who sports both an NBA championship with the Milwaukee Bucks and a Euroleague title with EFES also comes back to one of his old stomping grounds.

However, one name that jumps off of the visitors roster is Will Clyburn.

The 32-year old joined Anadolu after having played the past five seasons with CSKA Moscow but had his breakout season with Hapoel Holon back in the 2015/16 at first under Elad Hasin who brought the forward to Israel after two years in Germany and then together with Dan Shamir later in that same campaign. Shamir, who is now an Olimpia Milano assistant coach, then helped propel Clyburn to the first stop in his Euroleague career at Darussfaka with David Blatt for a season before heading to Russia where he captured the 2019 continental title.

Just ahead of Thursday’s clash, Clyburn, who is always a perennial all-star and whose name is continuously in the MVP discussion, spent some time with The Sports Rabbi to talk about his career, if Maccabi Tel Aviv ever made him an offer as well as what it’s like welcoming Shane Larkin back and having the opportunity to play with him and what life under Ergin Ataman is like. But first we took a trip back in time to when he graced the hardwood here in the Holy Land.

“The atmosphere itself at the Holon home games and the fans were unbelievable and to this day they are still the most unbelievable fans I’ve every played in front of. They’re supportive and they always brought it and accepted my family with open arms here. This will always be one of my favorite places to play in for my family and me.”

Did you imagine you would have had this career when you were playing in Israel?
“Not at all. At the time I was just enjoying basketball. Holon was one of the most fun times that I have had playing basketball. It’s one of those things I wasn’t expecting anything, I’m happy David Blatt took a chance on me and kind of jump started my career in the Euroleague.”

After a season with Holon, Clyburn made the move to Istanbul and played for David Blatt at Darussafaka in his debut campaign in the Euroleague in 2016/17, “He means a lot. Obviously he gave me the opportunity and until this day I text him here and there. Every time I see him on TV I send him a text message, in fact every time I think of him I send him one. We talked 2-3 weeks ago about helping my family out and he was ready to do it right away, so I think there will always be a good relationship there.”

One of the things that separates Clyburn from the rest of the pack is that he has the drive to continuously get better which keeps up his competitive juices. This season itself, Clyburn is averaging 19.3 points, 6.1 assists and 2.3 assists in yet another stellar campaign thus far.

“The competitiveness. I’m super competitive and I think that’s what drives me to get better every year. Every summer me and my trainer go back to the drawing board and think about what we can do better and what we can add, that’s kind of how it goes every summer. I want to get better, I want to improve and I obviously want to win, but I want t9 be the best version of myself as well to further my chances of winning. But it starts in the summertime. We are all super competitive in the summertime, me, my trainer and my brother, so it kind of carries over.”

In 2019 with CSKA Moscow, Clyburn captured his first and only Euroleague title to date after having lost the season before, “It was truly special, especially with those guys. We had lost the year before, so to come back won’t the same group of individuals and win that as a redemption it’s unbelievable. To this day it’s one of the most incredible feelings that I have ever felt. Hopefully I can relive that with these guys and enjoy the experience one more time.”

After five seasons in Russia, Clyburn moved on to EFES but it was not an easy decision to make due to having been so much a part of the fabric of coach Dimitrios Itoudis’s team.

“My decision to come here was difficult because I had no intention of leaving Russia. People probably don’t know but I had signed an extension with that team, another two year extension and I was going to be there for another two years. It was tough leaving that place. EFES showed interest early and they kind of didn’t give me an opportunity to go anywhere else. It’s one of those things that I went with it and a chance to play with a talented team. You’ve got Shane (Larkin), Vassa (Micic), and a lot of other talented players on this team, so it’s a chance to help them.”

Surprisingly as to how successful Clyburn has been throughout his storied career with many titles and honors, he never had the chance to play in the NBA, however, the forward is satisfied as to how things turned out.

“It’s everybody’s dream growing up to go to the NBA. It’s one of those things where I’m comfortable with myself and comfortable and happy where I’m at. Obviously, I wish I would have taken the chance that was given to me in 2019, but at the same time I stayed in a place where I was really wanted and they showed that commitment by signing me to a 3-year deal to show me that they wanted me there and to be the main face of that team. It was about being comfortable with myself and being in a place where I’m completely wanted instead of one year maybe, maybe not.”

While the Detroit, Michigan native played for Holon, he was never approached by Maccabi Tel Aviv, however, he was seriously looked at by another Israeli team, “No. After I left Holon they (Maccabi Tel Aviv) never gave me a call, surprisingly. Jerusalem was very close and at the last second, I’m not going to say who it was but they didn’t like the way my shot was, they didn’t like the way I looked. I know who the coach was but I’m not going to say his name. He didn’t like the way my shot looked and I’m kind of glad they passed up on me because I got to go play Euroleague that year and it was great. But Maccabi, not that I know of, maybe they did, maybe they didn’t but for sure after Holon they didn’t come to the table.”

Now at EFES, Clybrurn has been reunited with one of his Darussafaka teammates in center Ante Zizic who spent two seasons wearing the Yellow & Blue, “It’s good and he’s always been a good guy. We always stayed in touch and he was an up and coming talent and he’s still young. He has a lot of growing to do still and he’s just a great team guy. It doesn’t matter if he doesn’t play, play well, play great, he’s always the same guy and you always need those types of guys in the lockerroom with you.”

The game against Maccabi will mark the return of Shane Larkin to the Euroleague after having been out injured for some time. Clyburn of course can’t wait to get a chance to play with the star guard after he made his Turkish League debut this past week, “We’ve been missing Shane. Everybody has been giving him crap for not being her, so finally having him back is great. It will take time to get him into the flow of things. He was impressive in the first game so far with us, so we’re all excited for him to come back.”

Coach Ergin Ataman has guided EFES to back-to-back Euroleague championships and is no doubt a character of the game as well as one who has a unique approach to the game, “I’m not going to compare the two because they are both different. He’s laid back, he super laid back but on obviously he wants to win and that drives him. He gives you freedom and that’s what makes us a good team. He gauges you freedom to play your game in his system. He wants you to do things his way but he gives you that freedom to play his game. I think that’s why a lot of players love playing for him. He doesn’t hold you back and he lets you go out and play and he knows that players win games and he gives you that opportunity.”

Any visiting team to Yad Eliyahu will be challenged to keep to their game plan down and do their best to block out the Maccabi Tel Aviv fans who always play a factor in their team’s success which something that Clyburn is very aware of as he shared what EFES will need to do to come away with the win.

“We have to play smart. The fans are great so you don’t want to get the fans involved. Basically just playing smart, slow the ball down when we can, run our set offenses and don’t let them get out in transition and get easy points and get the crowd going. We have to defend as they are a talented offensive team. Lorenzo Brown is running the show right now so we need to control him the best we can and definitely handle the defensive rebounds.”