Hapoel Tel Aviv begins their second season in the Euroleague and will look to duplicate the success they had on their debut year which saw the reds finish in fifth place in the standings. By advancing to the playoffs, Dimitrios Itoudis’s team secured for themselves a second term in the continent’s top competition.

While Hapoel kept a large contingent of their roster for year two, they did make some changes and added a number of players to replace those that left the club or didn’t meet expectations.

One of the new recruits is Amir Coffey who played close to 400 games in the NBA, primarily with the Los Angeles Clippers. The 29-year old swingman will make his first foray into international basketball after having also featured for the Milwaukee Bucks and Phoenix Suns while also having attended the University of Minnesota for college.

Ahead of the new season, The Sports Rabbi sat down with Coffey for an extended conversation about his time in the world’s greatest league, some of the stars he was able to share the floor with during his time in the NBA along with his new basketball adventure that takes him to Hapoel Tel Aviv and European hoops.

“So far it’s going good,” Coffey began. “It’s my first time overseas, so just coming over here, getting accustomed to everything. Me and my new teammates are building a relationship with the coaching staff and are getting ready for a good year.”

The Reds arrived in Israel last week after a training camp that was held in Sofia, Bulgaria which is where the club will be playing their Euroleague home games for the time being until the competition allows the return of matches to the Holy Land. While they were in Israel Itoudis’s side played in the season opening Super Cup against Maccabi Tel Aviv and took a heavy 101-83 defeat at the hands of the yellow-and-blue.

“Obviously we know we could be better than that. I think we just took responsibility for it and came together as a team along with the coaching staff and addressed what we needed to and it’s something that we take very seriously. So moving forward, we’re going to be better than that. There were a lot of fans there, a big crowd and a lot of energy. There was some system stuff that we kind of let go during the game that kind of killed us there but it can be fixed. We went over the film, talked amongst ourselves and we will move forward and we’ll be better.”

For the most part, the preseason has been good for Hapoel and they have won plenty of their exhibition games which places them in a good spot ahead of the Euroleague Coffey explained, “I feel like the preseason has been good. We won our first five or six games so we’ve been taking the right steps. Overall we’ve been playing well so we want to go into play with right energy and start off strong.”

One of the reasons preseason has been good is because of the time the squad has been able to spend together, “We’ve been spending a lot of time together inside the gym, outside the gym doing dinners, team getaways and whatever. So just getting closer to everybody. I’m sure it will translate on the court.”

Heading overseas is something that Coffey had been considering for a couple of years as he explained how he decided to finally make the move across the Atlantic Ocean, “It was really early in the summer and the coaching staff reached out to my agent and we ended up getting on the phone and just had a couple good conversations. I grew up with Daniel (Oturu), so I reached out to him and asked him how his experience was, asked a few questions about the club and just continued the conversation with the coaching staff and we came to an agreement.

“The past previous two summers my agent has expressed interest in overseas teams. So I wasn’t surprised when this came about and I just wanted it to be the right fit. So I think the conversations that we had were appealing to me and my agent and we made it happen.”

One of Amir’s siblings, his sister Nia, who is currently playing in the WNBA with the Minnesota Lynx, played in Israel with Maccabi Ramat Gan and Maccabi Haifa which was also very helpful for Coffey when he was making the decision to take his talents to Israel.

“I spoke to her and she liked playing out here as well. Everybody that I’ve talked to or asked about before making this commitment had good things to say about the city of Tel Aviv and about their experience here with their team. So it definitely made me comfortable to make the commitment to the team and to come out here.”

Coffey’s father Richard also played in Europe and shared his thoughts on making the move abroad, “It makes the decision easier when you have people to talk about it through that did the same thing or went through the experiences. Just having those conversations with them, with my sister, with my father, with previous teammates, just asking as much questions as possible made the decision easier. People that I know that have been through it, people that I know that have played out here. It kind of just gives you a different insight outside of yours.”

Of course, Coffey is going to need to make the adjustments to playing in Europe from the NBA, “I always say that at the end of the day you’ve got to play ball. Whatever adjustment it may be, it’s something that you just take with the game. I’m sure I’ll make the adjustment and I’ll find my steps out here and fine-tune what I need to. I’m expecting a big season for us.”

Coach Dimitrios Itoudis will look to take Hapoel to the next level and this will be the first time Coffey will play under the Euroleague championship tactician, “You can tell he’s about his business on the court. Real detail-oriented coach and expects a lot from everybody. We’ve had a good preseason as a team. Personally, I think he’s a good coach. Hopefully that will show this year with our output in the EuroLeague.”

Coffey is part of a Hapoel team that will be travelling between Bulgaria and Israel very frequently with a packed European and domestic league schedule which of course is something will eventually come to an end and see the Euroleague return to Tel Aviv.

“This is our first time out here in Tel Aviv and I know the travel will probably be a little bit more demanding during the season. That’s something I haven’t experienced yet. It’s tough to say right now because this is our first time out here before preseason. I’m sure it will be a different taste of it during the season with all the travel, Israeli league games and going back and forth. We haven’t had too much travel yet.

“As a team, we’ve been talking about how we would love to play in front of the fans, in front of the energy and the crowds and just the output of what the fans can give us during the game. That’s something that we we all wanted. The situation is the situation as it is right now. Just having that hope that something will work out for us as a team. Right now, we’ve just got to roll with the punches and do what we can on the court regardless of where we’re at.”

Playing multiple positions is something that Coffey is used to doing and will be an asset to his game with the Reds, “I’ve played the one, I’ve played the two, I’ve played the three. I’m a little four, so just being versatile in that matter. Playing on both sides of the court, positions on both sides of the court, guarding one through four or playing one through three. Just adding where I can for the team and helping where I can.

Coffey is also looking to continue to improve his game in every aspect, “You can never be too good at something. There are things in my game that I work on every summer, I know things that I want to improve as you can never be too good at anything, so just fine-tuning your game, even the things you think you’re good at.”

Growing up, Coffey emulated his father and also played for the Minnesota Golden Gophers in college just as he did, “It was cool. Definitely a lot of history behind it. My dad played there as well, so I was kind of following that same route and building my name there and continuing my family name which was very special to us in all good situations. I got to stay home and represent my city and do good things there.”

Although Coffey went undrafted in 2019, he still had the belief that he would end up in the NBA, “I’ve always, since a kid, believed and wanted to go to the NBA. Even after the route that I took, getting hurt my junior year in high school, one of the most important years, getting hurt my sophomore year of college, I always believed it would work out. Even after draft night when I didn’t get drafted, I always believed. I feel like I’ve had a real underdog career, but I’ve never ever doubted myself in making that happen. I did. It was a tough route, but I made it happen.”

You speak about the tough route. Playing in the G League – How difficult is that when the dream is obviously NBA?

“It’s tough, but it’s something that you got to do. Take the route that you need to and do what you got to do to make it where you want to go. Like I said, I had a different route, a tougher route, but you got to make it happen when you believe in something.”

Coffey’s career high in the NBA was 35 points, but it wasn’t always about the points but the coach he played under as well as sharing the court with some superstars and future Hall of Famers in Kawhi Leonard, James Harden, Russell Westbrook and Paul George.

“My rookie year, I was playing under Doc Rivers and then my next five with the Clippers, I was under Ty Lue. Just playing under coaches with so much accomplishments and a lot of history in the game and who are real teachers of the game was pretty cool. I’ve had some pretty legitimate teammates as well. Just my whole situation there, nothing but gratitude for those guys, for those teams and for the city of Los Angeles. I really loved my time there.”

“You can learn a lot from guys like Kawhi, James, Russ and Paul even off the court. I think coming in as a rookie, stuff like taking care of your body is something I’ve seen firsthand of them doing, doing the extra stuff to take care of their bodies and make sure that they’re ready to go. On the court, obviously, you can watch your game, you can ask some questions and learn from them. But I would say on the court and off the court, I learned a lot from not only them but a lot of my previous teammates, especially my first and second year, just taking all that in.”

Coffey also played with MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo with the Bucks, “I was there for half a season, so I had a quick stint but I would just talk about his work ethic. That dude works extremely hard, a guy that demands his output. Just that work ethic that he has, you can tell why he made it as far as he has.”

A fun fact is that the opponent Coffey faced the most is Luka Doncic, 28 times, “He’s a big trash talker. I never really got into that with him, but just playing him so much, you always hear him chirping with somebody. I think that’s funny you said that, because he’s definitely a talker, especially when it gets going. Some guys indulge in it, some guys don’t, but I never really got into it with him.”

Coffey also had the opportunity to guard some of the best of the best including LeBron James, Steph Curry, Kevin Durant, Nikola Jokic, Victor Wembanyama and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, “It’s tough. Those are great players. A lot of the times you work on defenses or build defenses to try to combat them, but those are good players. They’re stars for a reason. I think just going against those challenges and realizing the situation, it’s funny you get to compete against people like that.”

What do you remember from games against Israeli Deni Avdija?

“Deni is good. I played against him a couple of times. He’s a high-energy player. He plays hard. He’s athletic. He’s fast. I think he’ll continue to do good over there in Portland.”

As for potentially heading back to the NBA Coffey is unsure as to where the future will lead him, “I kind of want to see where my career goes from here, but wherever I’m at, I’m going to make it happen. I’m going to get my work too. In the future, whatever happens, happens.”

Just like many players who arrive in Israel, one of their most favorites things in the Middle Eastern cuisine, “The food has been great and I was very surprised out here. My teammates have all been giving me recommendations on what to try and where to go. I’ve tried a couple of spots. We were only here a couple of days, but the food has been amazing so far. I think that surprised me a little bit. I’m loving the food, but I want to get out and explore a little bit more when we have a little bit more time. But the food has been great.”

Winning is always the #1 goal for any athlete and Coffey is no exception to the rule, “We want to win the EuroLeague and we want to win the Israeli League. We all have high hopes for us and I think we all know the magnitude of the situation, especially with this team. Obviously the first goal is to win and just have a great output as a team.”