Doron Perkins (born on May 6, 1983) is a former American professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

player and currently an assistant coach for

Maccabi Tel Aviv B.C. Maccabi Tel Aviv Basketball Club ( he, מועדון כדורסל מכבי תל אביב), known for sponsorship reasons as Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv (), is a professional basketball club based in Tel Aviv, Israel. The team plays in the Israe ...

of the Euroleague. Standing at 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) he can play as either a point guard or a shooting guard. He was the 2009

Israeli Basketball Premier League MVP The Israeli Basketball Premier League MVP, or Israeli Basketball Super League MVP, is an annual basketball award that is presented to the most valuable player in a given season of the Israeli Basketball Premier League, which is the top-tier level ...

, and the 2010 and 2011

Israeli Basketball Premier League Defensive Player of the Year The Israeli Basketball Premier League Defensive Player of the Year, or Israeli Basketball Super League Defensive Player of the Year, is an award given to the best defensive player of each season of the Israeli Basketball Premier League, which is th ...

College career

Perkins played two years of

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

at Santa Clara University with the Santa Clara Broncos, playing in the WCC, where he was twice selected to the All-WCC First Team (2004, 2005). He also led the league in steals during the 2003–04 and 2004–05 seasons.

Professional career

Perkins started his professional career in the 2005–06 season in the Japanese League, where he played for Toyota Alvark. He was named the

MVP In team sports, a most valuable player award, abbreviated 'MVP award', is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particu ...

of the league, after leading his team to the championship. In the final game, Perkins had 19 points, 11 rebounds, and 6 assists. Perkins then signed with the German League club

EWE Baskets Oldenburg Baskets Oldenburg, for sponsorship reasons EWE Baskets Oldenburg, is a professional basketball club that is based in the city of Oldenburg, Germany. The club plays in the Bundesliga. The club's name is derived from the team's main sponsor EWE AG ...

for the 2006–07 season. He averaged 12 points, 3.8 rebounds, and 4.1 assists in 27 minutes per game. In the 2007–08 season, Perkins led his team, Bree, to the

Belgian League The Belgian Pro League,(officially the Jupiler Pro League due to sponsorship reasons with Jupiler), is the top league competition for association football clubs in Belgium. Contested by 18 clubs since the 2020–21 Belgian First Division A, 2020 ...

's final. He had an outstanding season. He finished the season averaging 15.8 points, 5.3 rebounds, 5.7 assists, and 3.1 steals in 31 minutes per game. For the 2008–09 season, Perkins signed with the

Israeli Super League The Israeli Premier League ( he, ליגת העל, ''Ligat Ha`Al'', ), is a professional association football league which operates as the highest division of the Israeli Football League – the state's league of Israel. The league is contested b ...

club

Maccabi Haifa Maccabi Haifa ( he, מכבי חיפה) is one of the biggest sports clubs in Israel and a part of the Maccabi association. It runs several sports clubs and teams in Haifa which have competed in a variety of sports over the years, such as Football ...

. He averaged 17 points, 6.3 rebounds, 5.3 assists, and 3 steals in 31 minutes per game. He had his best game against

Ashkelon Ashkelon or Ashqelon (; Hebrew: , , ; Philistine: ), also known as Ascalon (; Ancient Greek: , ; Arabic: , ), is a coastal city in the Southern District of Israel on the Mediterranean coast, south of Tel Aviv, and north of the border wit ...

, finishing the game with 27 points, 7 rebounds, 7 assists, 4 steals, and 2 blocks. He was rewarded for his efforts with the Super League's MVP award. Perkins was named the MVP of his league in two out of his first four pro seasons. In August 2009, Perkins was invited to join the senior men's Russian national team. As citizenship was a prerequisite to joining the team, Perkins was offered

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

n citizenship. He decided however not to take Russian citizenship. KK Union Olimpija vs Maccabi Tel Aviv 2009-12-03 (29)

He then returned to the Israeli Super League, and signed with the league's defending champions

Maccabi Tel Aviv Maccabi Tel Aviv ( he, מכבי תל אביב) is one of the largest sports clubs in Israel, and a part of the Maccabi association. Many sports clubs and teams in Tel Aviv are in association with Maccabi and compete in a variety of sports, such ...

. During the 2010–11 season, Perkins earned the nickname "who if not" ("מי אם לא"), due to his uncanny knack for coming up with loose balls, and for the way the

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

speaking game announcers constantly used the phrase, "who if not, Doron Perkins". He was the 2010 and 2011

. On March 29, 2011, during game 3 of the EuroLeague playoff series between Maccabi Tel Aviv and Caja Laboral, for the ticket to the

EuroLeague Final Four The EuroLeague Final Four is the final four format championship of the European-wide top-tier level EuroLeague professional club basketball competition. The Euroleague Basketball Company used the final four format for the first time in 2002, f ...

, Perkins suffered an injury to his right knee. A medical examination later showed that he suffered two

tears Tears are a clear liquid secreted by the lacrimal glands (tear gland) found in the eyes of all land mammals. Tears are made up of water, electrolytes, proteins, lipids, and mucins that form layers on the surface of eyes. The different types of ...

in his Meniscus, in his ACL and

MCL The litre (international spelling) or liter (American English spelling) (SI symbols L and l, other symbol used: ℓ) is a metric unit of volume. It is equal to 1 cubic decimetre (dm3), 1000 cubic centimetres (cm3) or 0.001 cubic metre (m3) ...

, and he subsequently underwent surgery to repair the damaged knee. A prognosis of nine months rehabilitation time was published in the media. In early February 2012, Perkins returned to the court, after nearly one year off from basketball. He signed with the Italian League club

Cantù Cantù (; Brianzöö: ) is a city and ''comune'' in the Province of Como, located at the center of the Brianza zone in Lombardy. It is the second largest city in Brianza. History The name could stem from that of the Canturigi, a population o ...

, and played in his first EuroLeague game against Spanish League power

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

. Perkins finished the game with 12 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists, and 2 steals. Perkins was also named the player of the week in his second week in the Italian League. He then signed with the Ukrainian League club

Donetsk Donetsk ( , ; uk, Донецьк, translit=Donets'k ; russian: Донецк ), formerly known as Aleksandrovka, Yuzivka (or Hughesovka), Stalin and Stalino (see also: cities' alternative names), is an industrial city in eastern Ukraine loca ...

. After playing in the

Chinese Basketball Association The Chinese Basketball Association (), often abbreviated as the CBA, is the first-tier professional men's basketball league in China. The league is commonly known by fans as the CBA, and this acronym is even used in Chinese on a regular basis ...

with Foshan Long Lions, Perkins joined the Greek League club

Olympiacos Olympiacós Sýndesmos Filáthlon Peiraiós ( el, Ολυμπιακός Σύνδεσμος Φιλάθλων Πειραιώς, Olympic Club of Fans of Piraeus) is a major multi-sport club based in Piraeus, Greece. Olympiacos is parent to a number ...

in February 2013. With Olympiacos, he won the 2012–13 season championship of the EuroLeague. He was released by Olympiacos in May 2013. He signed a contract with Beşiktaş Integral Forex on September 30, 2013. On September 6, 2014, Perkins signed a one-year contract with the Spanish team Laboral Kutxa Vitoria. On December 12, 2014, he parted ways with Laboral. On January 27, 2015, he signed with Krasny Oktyabr of Russia for the remainder of the season. However the next month he was released, before making official debut for the team. In August 2015, Perkins signed with Turkish club Yeşilgiresun Belediye for the 2015–16 BSL season. On December 11, 2016, Perkins signed with Sanat Naft Abadan of the Iranian Super League. On August 18, 2017, Perkins signed with

Goyang Orions Goyang Carrot Jumpers (Korean: 고양 캐롯 점퍼스) is a professional basketball club based in Goyang, South Korea which plays in the Korean Basketball League. Before the change of ownership in 2022, they were called Orions. History Dayo ...

of the Korean Basketball League.

Awards and achievements

Santa Clara University

*2x All- West Coast Conference First Team: (2004, 2005) * West Coast Conference tournament All-Tournament Team: (2004) *2x West Coast Conference Steals Leader: (2004, 2005)

Toyota Alvark

* Japanese League Champion: (2006) * Japanese League MVP: (2006) * Japanese League Assists Leader: (2006)

Bree

* Belgian League Assists Leader: (2008) * Belgian League Steals Leader: (2008)

Maccabi Haifa

* Israeli Super League MVP: (2009) *

Steals Leader: (2009)

Maccabi Tel Aviv

*2x Israeli Cup Winner: (2010, 2011) *2x Israeli Super League Defensive Player of The Year: (2010, 2011) *

Champion: (2011)

Olympiacos

* EuroLeague Champion: (2013)

References

External links