It was out of a movie.

It was what dreams are made of.

It was surreal.

It was a magical evening of basketball as Yam Madar was back at Yad Eliyahu, but wearing the Maccabi Tel Aviv colors of yellow-and-blue and not those of his former club, the red of Hapoel Tel Aviv as he led his new team with an MVP performance to the preseason title with a 101-83 win.

The last time we all saw the guard was in the midst of last season’s final series when the two arch rivals tipped off against one another in what was a series that was won by Maccabi 3-1. However, Madar was playing a leading role for Dimitrios Itoudis’s squad and now all of a sudden he’s playing for the man on the opposite sidelines in one Oded Katash.

Only sports can feature such drama, theatre and showmanship.

It’s not just everyday that a player, one who grew up through the Hapoel youth system and was then selected in the NBA Draft by the Boston Celtics decides to cross the street and join the “other side”. But there he was, Yam Madar doing exactly that, ditching the red for the yellow-and-blue as he looked to play a bigger part than the one he had been.

It takes a lot for a player to do what Madar did and it’s usually only the stars of the stars that are able to handle the pressure that comes long with it. But Madar is made of what it takes to withstand the criticism and critique and did what was best for Yam Madar.

The fans celebrated his arrival with pomp and circumstance, with song and dance as tip-off approached and the stage was set for Madar’s coronation on center stage as a Maccabi Tel Aviv star.

Out he went onto the court, shook hands with his former teammates and off he went. While Madar perhaps drove in a bit too hard for a layup, he soon had his first points of the game when he let one rip from deep for a triple and gave his patented gunshot salute. Madar then dished off a perfect ball to the corner where Keaton Wallace was waiting and promptly drained a 3-ball with ease.

As the clock wound down in the opening quarter and with the score knotted up fittingly at Madar’s number 26, who else but Yam would get the ball inside the paint, fake, turn and hit a mini jumper to give Maccabi a 28-26 lead in a period that saw Hapoel big man Dan Oturu score 11 points.

Madar took his place on the floor to begin the second frame and hounded a helpless Max Heidegger forcing him to commit a backcourt violation while on the offensive side of the court he continuously blew by Khadeen Carrington and decked him out of his shorts one time after the next as the former Jerusalem guard had no answer to keep his counterpart at bay. With Madar on the bench, Wallace started to fill the bucket reaching double digits before the first half was in the books and with him back on the floor he scored as well while adding free throws himself.

But he saved the best for last when he stole the ball, got off of the floor, turned and launched an almost full court buzzer beater to send the fans into pandemonium, giving Maccabi a 54-42 lead while finishing the first half in double digits.

Maccabi continued to pour on the offense as the third quarter began with Iffe Lundberg, Roman Sorkin, Will Rayman and Bonzie Colson all contributing as Madar took a breather. When he did return to the fray he dribbled the ball as if it was a yo-yo, with a string attached to the ball he he bounced it up and down and all around like a toy as the yellow-and-blue pulled away like child’s play taking a 79-56 lead after thirty minutes of action.

Madar got back onto the scoresheet to the delight of the fans as the final frame got underway, while the crescendo went up yet another notch when the Super Cup and MVP trophies were brought out to the sidelines as the anticipation mounted. Maccabi kept scoring as newcomer Armando Bacot found points as did TJ Leaf who returned from a long layoff due to an injury, but this night was all Yam Madar as the game came to an end with the yellow-and-blue hoisting the trophy high into the air.

A storybook ending for Madar’s first game with Maccabi as his debut couldn’t have gone any better. But now it’s onto bigger and better things as the Euroleague awaits nest week at the same time. The real thing is about to begin and it certainly looks like Madar and Maccabi Tel Aviv are ready to go.