Yovel Zoosman ( he, יוֹבֵל זוסמן; born May 12, 1998) is an Israeli 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

Alba Berlin Alba Berlin is a German professional basketball club that is based in Berlin, Germany. The club was founded in 1991, and is today the largest German national basketball club by membership figures. Alba Berlin hosts its home games at the Mercedes ...

of the German

Basketball Bundesliga The Basketball Bundesliga (BBL) (English language: ''Federal Basketball League''), for sponsorship reasons named easyCredit BBL, is the highest level league of professional club basketball in Germany. The league comprises 18 teams. A BBL season ...

and the EuroLeague. Standing at , he plays at the

shooting guard The shooting guard (SG), also known as the two, two guard or off guard,Shooting guards are 6'3"–6'7"BBC Sports academy URL last accessed 2006-09-09. is one of the five traditional positions in a regulation basketball game. A shooting guard's m ...

and the

small forward The small forward (SF), also known as the three or swingman, is one of the five positions in a regulation basketball game. Small forwards are typically shorter, quicker, and leaner than power forwards and centers but taller, larger, and stronger t ...

positions. Zoosman was named the

FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship The FIBA U20 European Championship, previously known as the European Championship for Men '22 and Under', is a men's youth basketball competition that was inaugurated with the 1992 edition. Through the 2004 edition, it was held biennially, but ...

MVP in

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

. He was named the 2020

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 ...

Biography

Yovel Zoosman was born in

Kfar Saba Kfar Saba ( he, כְּפַר סָבָא), officially Kefar Sava, is a city in the Sharon region, of the Central District of Israel. In 2019 it had a population of 110,456, making it the 16th-largest city in Israel. The population of Kfar Saba i ...

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 Jewish family. He was raised in

Netanya Netanya (also known as Natanya, he, נְתַנְיָה) is a city in the Northern Central District of Israel, and is the capital of the surrounding Sharon plain. It is north of Tel Aviv, and south of Haifa, between Poleg stream and Wingate I ...

and played for Elitzur Netanya youth team. He joined

Wingate Institute Wingate Institute ( he, מכון וינגייט), officially Orde Wingate Institute for Physical Education and Sports ( he, המכון לחינוך גופני ולספורט ע"ש אורד וינגייט), is a sports training institute located so ...

and Maccabi Tel Aviv in his late teens.

Sports career

In 2015, Zoosman started his professional career with Maccabi Tel Aviv. On October 18, 2015, Zoosman made his professional debut in an Israeli

ISBL ISBL (Information Systems Base Language) is the relational algebra notation that was invented for PRTV, one of the earliest database management systems to implement E.F. Codd's relational model of data. Example OS = ORDERS * SUPPLIERS LIST OS ...

game, in an 85–70 win over

Bnei Herzliya Bnei Herzliya Basket (, lit. ''Sons of Herzliya''), is a professional basketball club that is based in Herzliya, in the Sharon district in Israel. The club plays in the Israeli Basketball Premier League, the top division of Israeli basketball. It ...

, recording two points off the bench. On August 24, 2016, Zoosman was loaned to Maccabi Ra'anana of the Liga Leumit, the second level league in Israel. In 28 games played with Ra'anana, he averaged 11.7 points, 3.6 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.8 steals per game, while shooting 41 percent from 3-point range. Zoosman helped Ra'anana reach the Liga Leumit Playoffs as the first seed, but they eventually were eliminated by

Maccabi Hod HaSharon Maccabi Hod HaSharon ( he, מכבי הוד השרון) is a professional basketball club based in Hod HaSharon in the Sharon region, Central District of Israel. The team plays in the Israeli National League. History Alumni Maccabi Hod Hasharon ...

in the Quarterfinals.

Maccabi Tel Aviv

On July 27, 2017, Zoosman signed a four-year contract extension with Maccabi Tel Aviv. On June 8, 2018, Zoosman was named the 2018 Israeli League Rising Star. Zoosman helped Maccabi win the 2017 Israeli League Cup and the 2018 Israeli League Championship. On January 11, 2019, Zoosman recorded a EuroLeague career-high of 15 points, shooting 6-of-6 from the field, to go along with six rebounds and two steals, in a 93–76 win over CSKA Moscow. On January 31, 2019, Zoosman was named the Israeli Player of the Month, for games played in January. Zoosman helped Maccabi win the 2019 Israeli League Championship, winning his second straight Israeli League title in the process. On June 27, 2019, Zoosman joined the

Cleveland Cavaliers The Cleveland Cavaliers (often referred to as the Cavs) are an American professional basketball team based in Cleveland. The Cavaliers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference (NBA), Ea ...

for the

2019 NBA Summer League The 2019 NBA Summer League was held at the Thomas and Mack Center and Cox Pavilion in Las Vegas, Nevada on the campus of University of Nevada, Las Vegas. It began on July 5 and ended on July 15. All 30 teams and two national teams, China and Croat ...

. He was named the 2020

Alba Berlin

On August 6, 2021, he has signed with

of the German

Israeli junior national team

Zoosman was a member of the Under-16, Under-18 and

Under-20 Junior is a category of athletics in which athletes compete under the age of 20 years. Countries all around the world compete in athletics. World Junior Athletics Competitions are held every two years which contain the best junior competitors in ...

Israeli national teams. In July 2017, Zoosman helped the Israeli Under-20 team reach the 2017 FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship Finals, where they eventually lost to

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

. Zoosman finished the tournament averaging 16.3 points, 5.7 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game. In July 2018, Zoosman led the Israeli Under-20 team to a gold medal at the

2018 FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship The 2018 FIBA U20 European Championship was the 21st edition of the FIBA U20 European Championship. The competition took place in Chemnitz, Germany from 14 to 22 July 2018. Israel U20 became the European champions for the first time. Participati ...

. He finished the tournament averaging 14.4 points, 4.7 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 2.3 steals per game. Zoosman was named the Tournament MVP and also earned 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 ...

Israeli senior national team

Zoosman is a member of the senior Israeli national team. On February 23, 2018, Zoosman made his first appearance for the senior team in a

2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup qualification The 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup qualification was the first FIBA Basketball World Cup, World Cup for which teams had to qualify for under the new qualification system. The process determined 31 out of the 32 teams that participated at the 2019 ...

match against

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

Career statistics

EuroLeague

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2015–16 , style="text-align:left;", Maccabi , 1 , , 0 , , 2.7 , , .000 , , .000 , , .000 , , .0 , , .0 , , .0 , , .0 , , .0 , , .0 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2017–18 , style="text-align:left;", Maccabi , 14 , , 4 , , 8.0 , , .450 , , .364 , , 1.000 , , .8 , , .6 , , .3 , , .1 , , 1.8 , , 1.9 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2018–19 , style="text-align:left;", Maccabi , 30 , , 2 , , 14.7 , , .459 , , .375 , , .846 , , 2.0 , , 1.2 , , .7 , , .2 , , 3.0 , , 3.7 , - , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan=2, Career , 45 , , 6 , , 12.3 , , .457 , , .372 , , .875 , , 1.6 , , 1.0 , , .5 , , .2 , , 2.6 , , 2.1