Micheal Madanly (born 10 March 1981 in

Aleppo )), is an adjective which means "white-colored mixed with black". , motto = , image_map = , mapsize = , map_caption = , image_map1 = ...

), better known as Michel Madanly or just Micho, is a

Syrian Syrians ( ar, سُورِيُّون, ''Sūriyyīn'') are an Eastern Mediterranean ethnic group indigenous to the Levant. They share common Levantine Semitic roots. The cultural and linguistic heritage of the Syrian people is a blend of both indi ...

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. Most known in his prime playing for

Jalaa SC Jalaa Sporting Club (), previously known as Jeunesse Sportivo Alep is a multi-sports club based in the Syrian city of Aleppo. They are most notable with their football and basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most co ...

's basketball programme from 2004 to 2011, he also played in a number of Syrian and international basketball clubs in China, Philippines, Lebanon and the Netherlands and a regular feature for many years in the Syrian national basketball team. Madanly is perhaps best known as the leading scorer in the

2007 FIBA Asia Championship The 2007 FIBA Asia Championship for Men was the qualifying tournament for FIBA Asia at the men's basketball tournament at the 2008 Summer Olympics at Beijing. The tournament was held in Tokushima, Japan from July 28 to August 5, 2007. Particip ...

, averaging 33.1

points per game Points per game, often abbreviated PPG, is the average number of points scored by a player per game played in a sport, over the course of a series of games, a whole season, or a career. It is calculated by dividing the total number of points by nu ...

Professional career

Syria

He first started his career in

Al-Jalaa Al-Jalaa ( ar, ٱلْجَلَاء, al-Jalāʾ) is a small city in eastern Syria, administratively part of the Deir ez-Zor Governorate, located along the Euphrates River, south of Deir ez-Zor. Nearby localities include al-Abbas to the west, al-R ...

basketball team in his native city of

Aleppo )), is an adjective which means "white-colored mixed with black". , motto = , image_map = , mapsize = , map_caption = , image_map1 = ...

. Madanly had originally planned to enter the club as a football player but the club's football team,

, was inactive during that period. Consequently, he joined the basketball section of the club. He played for a three years with Al-Jeish (Army) Club in Syria as part of a mandatory military service but was transferred to Al-Jalaa once again, where he achieved a lot.

China

In late 2011, he signed a 4-month contract with the

Foshan Dralions The Guangzhou Loong Lions () are a Chinese professional basketball team based in Guangzhou, Guangdong. They play in the Southern Division of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA). History The team was founded in November 2000 as Shaanxi Gait ...

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 ...

(CBA) because of the Syrian Civil War that was preventing the Syrian Basketball League to start. In 2013, Madanly signed with the Qingdong DoubleStar Eagles but only played 3 games for them. In 2014, Madanly signed with the

Jilin Northeast Tigers The Jilin Northeast Tigers () or Jilin Tonggang, Jilin Tonggang Northeast Tigers () or Jiutai Rural Commercial Bank are a professional basketball team based in Changchun, Jilin, China, which plays in the North Division of the Chinese Basketball A ...

, playing in 37 games for them while averaging 21.2 points per game and 6.5 rebounds per game in 42.5 minutes per game.

Philippines

In late April 2015, the

NLEX Road Warriors The NLEX Road Warriors is a professional basketball team owned by NLEX Corporation, a subsidiary of Metro Pacific Investments Corporation, currently playing in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) since the 2014–2015 season. The Roa ...

signed him for the

2015 PBA Governors' Cup The 2014–15 PBA season, 2015 Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) PBA Governors' Cup, Governors' Cup, also known as the 2015 Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company, PLDT Home TVolution-PBA Governors' Cup for sponsor (commercial), sponsors ...

as the team's Asian import. In June 2016, Madanly returned to the Philippines, this time suiting up for another team, the

Tropang TNT The TNT Tropang Giga is a professional basketball team currently owned by Smart Communications, a subsidiary of the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company (PLDT), playing in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) since 1990. The fra ...

, the sister team of his former PBA team, NLEX, as TNT's Asian import for the

2016 PBA Governors' Cup The 2015–16 PBA season, 2016 Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) PBA Governors' Cup, Governors' Cup, also known as the 2016 Oppo Electronics, Oppo-PBA Governors' Cup for sponsor (commercial), sponsorship reasons, was the third and last confe ...

Netherlands

In the 2016–17 season, Madanly played in the

Promotiedivisie The Promotiedivisie (English: Promotion Division) is the second tier of basketball in the Netherlands and is the highest amateur competition in the country. At the end of a Promotiedivisie-season, a Final Four is played to decide the new champion. ...

with Landslake Lions. He won the league title with the team after winning the Final Four. For the 2017–18 season, he played with

Apollo Amsterdam Apollo Amsterdam is a professional basketball team based in Amsterdam. The club plays its games in the BNXT League, the Dutch top league. The club was founded in 2011 and has been playing in the highest national level for years. The amateur sectio ...

in the first tier

Dutch Basketball League The Dutch Basketball League (DBL), formerly the Eredivisie, was the highest professional basketball league in the Netherlands, run by the Federatie Eredivisie Basketball (FEB). Since 2021, the league has been replaced by the Belgian-Dutch BNXT Le ...

(DBL). On 8 October 2017, Madanly scored 21 points in his debut for Apollo, in an 80–82 win over

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"N ...

. On 21 December 2017, he signed with

Forward Lease Rotterdam Feyenoord Basketball, for sponsorship reasons known as Zeeuw & Zeeuw Feyenoord Basketball, is a Dutch professional basketball club based in Rotterdam. The team plays in the BNXT League and plays its home games at the Topsportcentrum next to De ...

for the remainder of the season. With Rotterdam, he reached the semi-finals of the playoffs where his team lost to

Donar Groningen Donar, also known as Donar Groningen, is a professional basketball club based in Groningen, Netherlands. The club competes in the BNXT League and its home arena is MartiniPlaza, which has a seating capacity of 4,350 people. Donar is one o ...

, 0–4.

Syria

In January 2022, Madanly's transfer to

Al-Ittihad Aleppo Al-Ittihad Sports Club of Aleppo ( ar, نادي الاتحاد الرياضي الحلبي) is a professional multi-sports club based in the Syrian city of Aleppo, mostly known for its football team which competes in the Syrian Premier League ...

was announced.

International career

Madanly has played for the national basketball team of

Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

Personal life

Michel Madanly and his family are

Syrian Christians Syrian or Syriac Christians may refer to * Adherents of Christianity in Syria * Adherents of Syriac Christianity, various Christian bodies of Syriac traditions, especially: ** Syriac/Assyrian/Aramean people, Christian neo-Aramaic speakers througho ...

from Aleppo. After the break-up of the Syrian Civil War in 2011, Michel's brother Habib Madanly who was a factory manager with no ties to the Syrian government or military, was taken hostage by the Islamist militants. Mandaly's family paid his Habib's ransom. After being freed, Habib moved to

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, while Michel and his parents moved to

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

in the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

, and continued his career as a professional basketball player. Madanli is married to Diane Theodori since 2012. Due to a mistake by the birth registering office, Madanly is named "Micheal" instead of "Michael".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Madanly, Michael 1981 births Living people Basketball players at the 2006 Asian Games Guangzhou Loong Lions players Jilin Northeast Tigers players NLEX Road Warriors players Philippine Basketball Association imports Qingdao Eagles players Apollo Amsterdam players Feyenoord Basketball players Dutch Basketball League players Shooting guards People from Aleppo Sportspeople from Aleppo Syrian Christians Syrian men's basketball players TNT Tropang Giga players Asian Games competitors for Syria Syrian expatriate basketball people in the Philippines