Deni Avdija is an NBA All-Star.

Let that sink in a bit.

For the Israeli it is a dream come true, just as it is for the entire State of Israel.

The Portland Trail Blazers forward was named to the Western Conference team as one of the 14 reserves announced for the 2026 All-Star Game that is slated to be played on February 15th at the Intuit Dome in Inglewood, California.

Avdija, who is the first Israeli to be named as an NBA All-Star ranked fifth in fan voting in the West with 2.2 million votes. Only Luka Dončić, Nikola Jokic, Stephen Curry and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander finished ahead of him.

The 25-year old who was born in Beit Zera near the Sea of Galilee, is averaging 25.5 points and 6.7 assists along with 7.2 rebounds in 44 games and is one of three players, all Europeans, who are averaging at least 25 points, seven rebounds and six assists together with Jokic and Doncic. This season, Avidja has a trio of triple-doubles and has reached double figures in assists nine times while having scored 20 or more points 35 times.

The All-Star format will feature the USA vs The World with three teams of at least eight players playing 12-minute games in a round-robin format. After the first three games, the two teams with the best records will advance to the final, where the champion will be crowned. If all three teams finish with a 1-1 record, the tiebreaker will be point differential.

The 6-foot-8 Avdija is in his second season with the Blazers after spending his first four years in the world’s greatest league with the Washington Wizards who selected him 9th overall in the first round of the 2020 NBA Draft. Prior to that Avdija began his professional career with Maccabi Tel Aviv in Israel where he was a 3x league champions along with capturing the 2020 MVP award.

Omri Casspi, the first Israeli in the NBA congratulated Avdija, “Deni, what immense pride! Seeing the journey you’ve taken, the hard work and perseverance, it’s well deserved. Enjoy every moment on this stage; you are proof that the sky is the limit and this is only the beginning.”

Portland Head Coach Tiago Splitter added, “Proud of him. I know he cares about this team. When you see a person like that succeeding, it’s truly special.”

After learning that he would be an All-Star this season, Avdija reflected on the journey to get to this point in his career, “Obviously, I couldn’t do it without my teammates and coaches, and the whole crew that’s just been with me this season, it’s been amazing. There’s a long season to go. I gotta focus on the team and see how we get better as a group, but definitely as an individual accolade that’s amazing.”

“I started playing basketball without a dream and just to see, pursue it and just see wherever it takes me, and it’s hard to believe that you just accomplish thing after thing after thing. It’s just emotional for me for sure.”

There were plenty of top names who were not selected including Kawhi Leonard, Laurie Markkanen and James Harden and this is something that Avdija understands after he was given the nod.

“I think there’s great players that didn’t get chosen for the All-Star game and obviously, there’s a lot of talent in this league that could have been instead of me. But I worked hard. I play hard. I don’t want to say I deserve it, but I do respect me and my game and I’m really happy that I’m able to be an All-Star.”

Avdija also reflected on his concern about the team and there standing in the league, “I think the mindset of you being in it is just fun, but I have a lot of other things I think about. You know what I’m saying? It’s just how to win games because we’re struggling a little bit right now as a team. So I’m thinking more about the team right now than actually the All-Star. I feel like the closer it’s going to get, the more I’m going to think about it. But for now, I’m really trying to stay with my teammates.”

The Sabra received a ton of love from everyone back in the Holy Land and that’s not something he takes for granted, “A lot of congratulation messages and the amount of love, not only from the family and friends, but also the fans and the whole state of Israel, for real, is just standing behind me. It’s amazing. My teammates have been awesome. Coaches, everybody. Just hugging and showing the love, for sure.”

On the topic of team, Avdija was very thankful to those he shares the lockerroom with on a day in and day out basis, “A lot of times, if you’re not on a team that’s playing well, you don’t really get that. I couldn’t do it without my teammates, couldn’t do it without them. How we share the ball, how we play hard, how are we in the standings. A lot of it is a team sport at the end of the day. You can be as good as you want, but you need your teammates to be there.

“You need to play as a team and contribute for having success as a team and an individual. I feel like they’ve done a great job. I can go down the line and thank my teammates and they know I love them. They helped me pursue the dream and I’m going to help them pursue theirs.”

Avijda also looked back at what an NBA rookie Deni Avdija back in 2020 would have thought about the accomplishment of becoming an All-Star, “That he’s proud, that he’s been through a lot and that I’m glad that I was patient with it and I didn’t give up, no matter the situation, no matter where I’ve been. I’ve been in some moments in this path that wasn’t looking good or great and I doubted myself. But I kept working on it and I kept being patient and I knew my opportunity to shine would come. I’m glad this organization and this team let me do it and hopefully, there’s a lot more to come.”