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 court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

player for Partizan Belgrade 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 Hapoel Tel Aviv ( he, הפועל תל אביב) is a sports club in Israel, founded in the 1920s, and part of the Hapoel association. It runs several sports clubs and teams in Tel Aviv which have competed in a variety of sports over the years, suc ...

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 ...

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 for Israel at the youth level, playing at the

2019 FIBA U20 European Championship The 2019 FIBA U20 European Championship was the 22nd edition of the FIBA U20 European Championship. The competition took place in Tel Aviv, Israel from 13 to 21 July 2019. Participating teams * * * * * * * * (3rd place, 2018 FIBA U20 ...

. 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 ...

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,

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 Yemenite Jews or Yemeni Jews or Teimanim (from ''Yehudei Teman''; ar, اليهود اليمنيون) are those Jews who live, or once lived, in Yemen, and their descendants maintaining their customs. Between June 1949 and September 1950, t ...

) 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

youth teams.

Professional career

Hapoel Tel Aviv (2018–2021)

On 24 June 2018, Madar signed a four-year deal with

. On 21 September 2018, he made his debut in a FIBA Champions League qualifying round match against

Spirou Charleroi Spirou Charleroi, commonly known simply as Spirou, is a Belgian professional basketball club that is located in Charleroi. The club competes in the BNXT League, the highest tier of basketball in Belgium. The club's home arena is the Spiroudome wh ...

, 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. 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. In

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in ...

, 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 Partizan Belgrade 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 Ma ...

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 The 2021 NBA Summer League was an off-season competition held by the National Basketball Association (NBA) at the Thomas and Mack Center and Cox Pavilion in Las Vegas, Nevada on the campus of University of Nevada, Las Vegas. The summer league cons ...

, 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 Southeast Division. The team plays its home games at ...

National team career

Junior national team

In July 2018, Madar participated at the

2018 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship Division B The 2018 FIBA U18 European Championship Division B was the 14th edition of the Division B of FIBA U18 European Championship. The competition took place in Skopje, Republic of Macedonia, from 27 July to 5 August 2018. Participating teams * * * ...

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 The 2019 FIBA U20 European Championship was the 22nd edition of the FIBA U20 European Championship. The competition took place in Tel Aviv, Israel from 13 to 21 July 2019. Participating teams * * * * * * * * (3rd place, 2018 FIBA U20 E ...

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 Pir or PIR may refer to: Places * Pir, Kerman, a village in Kerman Province, Iran * Pir, Satu Mare, commune in Satu Mare County, Romania Religion * Pir (Alevism), one of the 12 ranks of Imam in Alevism * Pir (Sufism), a Sufi teacher or spiritu ...

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