Yam Madar ( he, ים מדר; born ) is an Israeli player ,and 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

Partizan Belgrade Jugoslovensko sportsko društvo Partizan ( sr-Cyrl, Југословенско спортско друштво Партизан, lit=Yugoslav Sports Society Partizan), commonly abbreviated as JSD Partizan ( sr-Cyrl, ЈСД Партизан, link ...

of the Serbian KLS, the

Adriatic League The ABA League, renamed to the ABA League First Division in 2017, is the 1st-tier regional men's professional basketball league that originally featured clubs from the former Yugoslavia (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, North Mac ...

and the EuroLeague. He also represents the Israel senior national team internationally. He joined Hapoel Tel Aviv of the

Israeli Premier 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 ...

in 2018. He debuted for their senior team in 2018, at age 17, becoming one of the youngest players in club history. Two years later, he became the youngest player to ever win the Israeli Premier League Most Improved Player. He has won a

gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have bee ...

for Israel at the youth level, playing at the 2019 FIBA U20 European Championship. Madar also has earned a spot in the All-Tournament Team. Madar was selected with the 47th overall pick by 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 ...

in the

2020 NBA draft The 2020 NBA draft was held on November 18, 2020. The draft was originally scheduled to be held at Barclays Center in Brooklyn on June 25, but due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, it was instead conducted at ESPN's facilities in Bristol, Connecti ...

Early life

Madar was born and raised in the town of

Beit Dagan Beit Dagan ( he, בֵּית דָּגָן, ''lit.'' "House of Grain") is a town and local council in the Central District of Israel. it had a population of in . It was awarded local council status in 1958. History During the Ottoman period, ...

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

, to a family of

Mizrahi Jewish Mizrahi Jews ( he, יהודי המִזְרָח), also known as ''Mizrahim'' () or ''Mizrachi'' () and alternatively referred to as Oriental Jews or ''Edot HaMizrach'' (, ), are a grouping of Jewish communities comprising those who remained i ...

( Yemenite-Jewish) descent. His father Zohar Madar is a former mayor of Beit Dagan, Israel. In

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 ...

, his first name means "sea". Madar played for Maccabi Beit Dagan and Hapoel Tel Aviv youth teams.

Professional career

Hapoel Tel Aviv (2018–2021)

On 24 June 2018, Madar signed a four-year deal with Hapoel Tel Aviv. On 21 September 2018, he made his debut in a FIBA Champions League qualifying round match against Spirou Charleroi, playing 15 minutes off the bench. On 3 July 2020, Madar recorded a career-high 28 points, shooting 11-of-17 from the field and 3-of-3 from the line in a 106–105 loss to

Maccabi Ashdod Maccabi Ashdod B.C. ( he, מכבי אשדוד) is a professional basketball team based in the port city of Ashdod, Israel. The team currently plays in the Israeli National League. History The team was founded in 1961 by "Maccabi Ashdod Sport ...

. In the quarter-finals series versus league leaders,

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 ...

, Madar was the leading scorer with 17.3 points while shooting 45% FG and 89% FT. He added 5.3 assists, 3.0 rebounds, and 2.0 steals, but despite his performance, Maccabi won 2–1. In Hapoel's only win of the series, he had 22 points, shooting 8-of-16 from the field and 5-of-5 from the line. He added 6 assists and 5 rebounds. On 26 July, Madar was selected as the

Israeli Basketball Premier League Most Improved Player The Israeli Basketball Premier League Most Improved Player, or Israeli Basketball Super League Most Improved Player, is an award given to the Most Improved Player of each season of the Israeli Basketball Premier League, which is the top-tier level ...

. In

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

, Madar was the youngest player to ever win the Israeli Premier League Most Improved Player. In 2021 he was named to the All-League Second Team.

Partizan (2021–2023)

On August 18, 2021, he signed with

of the

ABA League The ABA League, renamed to the ABA League First Division in 2017, is the 1st-tier regional men's professional basketball league that originally featured clubs from the former Yugoslavia (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, North Mace ...

NBA draft rights

Madar was selected with the 47th overall pick in the

by the

, however he continued with Hapoel for the 2020–21 season. He played for the Celtics in the 2021 NBA summer league, scoring 8 points on 4-6 shooting in 17-minutes at his debut, a 85-83 win against the

Atlanta Hawks The Atlanta Hawks are an American professional basketball team based in Atlanta. The Hawks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern Conference Southeast Division (NBA), Sou ...

National team career

Junior national team

In July 2018, Madar participated at the 2018 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship Division B with the Israeli Under-18 team, and averaged 11.4 points, 3.3 rebounds, 3 assists, and 1.8 steals per game. In July 2019, Madar won the 2019 FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship with the Israeli Under-20 team. Madar led the tournament in assists with 7.7 per game, along with 15.9 points, 3.1 rebounds, and 1.4 steals for 19.6 PIR per game, earning a spot in the All-Tournament Team, alongside his teammate

Deni Avdija Deni Avdija ( he, דֶנִי אָבְדִיָה, sr-cyr, Дени Авдија; born 3 January 2001) is an Israeli-Serbian professional basketball player for the Washington Wizards of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He plays the sma ...

Senior national team

In February 2019, Madar was named to the Israel senior national basketball team.

References

External links

Israeli Basketball Premier League profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Madar, Yam 2000 births Living people ABA League players Sportspeople from Central District (Israel) Boston Celtics draft picks Hapoel Tel Aviv B.C. players Israeli Jews Israeli expatriate basketball people in Serbia Israeli men's basketball players Israeli people of Yemeni-Jewish descent Jewish men's basketball players KK Partizan players Israeli Mizrahi Jews Point guards