Michael Holyfield (born November 18, 1992) is an American professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

player for the Hapoel Hevel Modi'in B.C. of the

Israeli National League Liga Leumit ( he, ליגה לאומית, lit. ''National League'') is the second division of the Israeli Football League, and below its Premier League. Structure There are 16 clubs in the league. At the end of each season, the two lowest-place ...

. He played

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 ...

Sam Houston State Sam Houston State University (SHSU or Sam) is a public university in Huntsville, Texas. It was founded in 1879 and is the third-oldest public college or university in Texas. It is one of the first normal schools west of the Mississippi River and ...

High school career

Holyfield attended

Manzano High School Manzano High School is a public high school located in northeast Albuquerque, New Mexico. It is part of the Albuquerque Public Schools system. The current principal is Rachel Vigil. History While still sophomores, Manzano's first senior class ...

Albuquerque, New Mexico Albuquerque ( ; ), ; kee, Arawageeki; tow, Vakêêke; zun, Alo:ke:k'ya; apj, Gołgéeki'yé. abbreviated ABQ, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Mexico. Its nicknames, The Duke City and Burque, both reference its founding in ...

. As a junior in 2009–10, he averaged 12.2 points and 10.3 rebounds per game, and helped the Monarchs win the district championship. He started every game as a junior on team with seven seniors, earning second-team All-District honors. As a senior in 2010–11, he led the Monarchs to a 22–9 record, a No. 4 state ranking and the Class AAAAA state finals. He subsequently earned All-State, All-District and All-Metro selection, and was named the district's Defensive Player of the Year.

College career

Holyfield played four seasons of

for

Sam Houston State University Sam Houston State University (SHSU or Sam) is a public university in Huntsville, Texas. It was founded in 1879 and is the third-oldest public college or university in Texas. It is one of the first normal schools west of the Mississippi River and ...

. He had a minor role over his first two seasons, coming off the bench for much of his freshman and sophomore campaigns and averaging just 15 minutes per game. As a junior in 2013–14, he increased his numbers in every statistical category, averaging 6.5 points, 6.7 rebounds and 1.7 blocks in 17.6 minutes per game, while starting all 35 contests. His 61 blocks was the fourth highest season total at SHSU. He scored in double figures in seven games, including a season-high 20 points against

Northwestern State Northwestern State University of Louisiana (NSU) is a public university primarily situated in Natchitoches, Louisiana, with a nursing campus in Shreveport and general campuses in Leesville/Fort Polk and Alexandria. It is a part of the Univer ...

. As a senior in 2014–15, Holyfield set the school's single-season blocks record with 86 and subsequently earned

Southland Conference The Southland Conference, abbreviated as SLC, is a collegiate athletic conference which operates in the South Central United States (specifically Texas and Louisiana). It participates in the NCAA's Division I for all sports; for football, it pa ...

Defensive Player of the Year honors. He also earned third-team All-Southland Conference honors after averaging 8.5 points, 8.1 rebounds and 2.5 blocks in 17.9 minutes per game, as he started in 34 of 35 games. Holyfield completed his career as Sam Houston's fourth all-time leader in blocked shots (105) and fifth all-time in rebounds (769).

Professional career

NBA Summer League and preseason

After going undrafted in the 2015 NBA draft, Holyfield joined the

Memphis Grizzlies The Memphis Grizzlies (referred to locally as the Grizz) are an American professional basketball team based in Memphis, Tennessee. The Grizzlies compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference ...

for the 2015 Orlando Summer League. He helped the Grizzlies win the Orlando Summer League title, and over five games for the team, he averaged 6.4 points and 4.2 rebounds in 14.3 minutes per game. He later joined the

Boston Celtics The Boston Celtics ( ) are an American professional basketball team based in Boston. The Celtics compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Atlantic Division. Founded in 1946 as one of t ...

for the Las Vegas Summer League, where he appeared in one game. On September 28, 2015, he signed with the Grizzlies, but was later waived by the team on October 7 after appearing in one preseason game.

NBA D-League

On October 31, 2015, Holyfield was acquired by the

Iowa Energy Iowa () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wiscon ...

of the

NBA Development League The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is the National Basketball Association's (NBA) official List of developmental and minor sports leagues, minor league basketball organization. The league was known as the National Basketball Development ...

as an affiliate player of the Grizzlies. He appeared in 22 games for Iowa in 2015–16 before being traded to the

Los Angeles D-Fenders LOS, or Los, or LoS may refer to: Science and technology * Length of stay, the duration of a single episode of hospitalisation * Level of service, a measure used by traffic engineers * Level of significance, a measure of statistical significance ...

on January 29, 2016. In the D-Fenders' regular season finale on April 2, Holyfield had a season-best game with 19 points and 15 rebounds in a 128–121 loss to the

Rio Grande Valley Vipers The Rio Grande Valley Vipers are an American professional basketball team of the NBA G League based in Edinburg, Texas, and are affiliated with the Houston Rockets. The Vipers play their home games at the Bert Ogden Arena. The Vipers have won f ...

. He helped the D-Fenders reach the 2016 D-League Finals, where they were defeated 2–1 by the

Sioux Falls Skyforce The Sioux Falls Skyforce are an American professional basketball team of the NBA G League based in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and are affiliated with the Miami Heat. The team plays their home games in the Sanford Pentagon, a place they have call ...

. In 24 games for the D-Fenders, he averaged 4.1 points and 3.8 rebounds per game.

Illawarra Hawks

On August 11, 2016, Holyfield signed with the

Illawarra Hawks The Illawarra Hawks (formerly the Wollongong Hawks and The Hawks) is an Australian professional basketball team based in Wollongong, New South Wales. The Illawarra Hawks compete in the National Basketball League (NBL) and play their home games ...

for the

2016–17 NBL season The 2016–17 NBL season was the 39th season of the National Basketball League since its establishment in 1979. A total of eight teams contested the league. The regular season was played between October 2016 and February 2017, followed by a pos ...

. He made his debut for the Hawks in their season opener on October 7, 2016, recording 14 points, six rebounds and two blocks off the bench in a 122–88 win over the

Adelaide 36ers The Adelaide 36ers, also known as the Sixers, are an Australian professional men's basketball team in the National Basketball League (NBL). The 36ers are the only team in the league representing the state of South Australia and are based in th ...

. Holyfield appeared in all 34 games for the Hawks in 2016–17, averaging 4.1 points and 4.0 rebounds per game.

China

In June 2018, Holyfield signed with Hunan Jinjian Miye of the Chinese NBL.

Zhejiang Lions The Zhejiang Guangsha Lions () are a Chinese professional basketball team based in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, which plays in the North Division of the Chinese Basketball Association. Guangsha is the name of the club's corporate sponsor, but to prevent con ...

signed Holyfield in April 2020. As the 2020 CBA season was still halted due to the COVID-19 at the time, he discontinued the contract and left the team shortly after.

Greece

Holyfield spent the latter half of the 2020–2021 season with Greek club

Ionikos Nikaias Ionikos Nikaias (full name Athlitikos Omilos Ionikos Nikaias, A.O. Ionikos Nikaias / el, Α.Ο. Ιωνικός Νικαίας) is a Greek multi-sports club that is based in Nikaia, Piraeus. It was founded in 1965, and it has teams in football, b ...

Israel

In 2021, Holyfield signed with the Israeli basketball team, Hapoel Afula. He recorded 11 points and 12 rebounds in his debut against the

Elitzur Ashkelon Elitzur Ashkelon ( he, אליצור אשקלון) was a professional basketball team based in Ashkelon in south-west Israel. The team reached the quarterfinals of the EuroCup Challenge in 2006 Illawarra Hawks The Illawarra Hawks (formerly the Wollongong Hawks and The Hawks) is an Australian professional basketball team based in Wollongong, New South Wales. The Illawarra Hawks compete in the National Basketball League (NBL) and play their home games ...

, NBL-Australia , 34 , , 11.0 , , .557 , , 1.000 , , .630 , , 4.0 , , .3 , , .2 , , .5 , , 4.1 , - , align="left" , 2016–17 , align="left" , Beijing Eastern Buck , NBL-China , 24 , , 43.4 , , .644 , , .333 , , .540 , , 23.6 , , 1.0 , , 1.0 , , 2.2 , , 27.2 , - , align="left" , 2017–18 , align="left" , Hunan Yongshang , NBL-China , 35 , , 36.6 , , .651 , , .000 , , .541 , , 17.7 , , 1.0 , , .8 , , 1.4 , , 18.0 , - , align="left" , 2018–19 , align="left" , Tauoyuan Pauian , Taiwan League , 8 , , 21.5 , , .574 , , .000 , , .575 , , 10.8 , , 1.1 , , .4 , , 1.0 , , 11.6 , - , align="left" , 2018–19 , align="left" , Beijing Eastern Buck , NBL-China , 21 , , 42.4 , , .621 , , .333 , , .573 , , 21.9 , , 1.1 , , 1.5 , , 1.7 , , 24.8 , - , align="left" , 2018–19 , align="left" , Hong Kong Eastern Long Lions , ASEAN League , 10 , , 30.9 , , .600 , , .000 , , .569 , , 16.4 , , .6 , , .5 , , 2.9 , , 15.5 , - , align="left" , 2019–20 , align="left" , Hong Kong Eastern Long Lions , ASEAN League , 10 , , 29.2 , , .571 , , .000 , , .500 , , 14.6 , , .3 , , .6 , , 2.0 , , 12.7 , - , -class=sortbottom , align="center" colspan=2 , Career , All Leagues , 142 , , 30.7 , , .626 , , .250 , , .557 , , 15.3 , , .8 , , .7 , , 1.5 , , 16.3