Deni Avdija Is Making Israeli History One Basket at a Time
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For Israel, Deni Avdija is about much more than basketball.
At 4 A.M. in Tel Aviv an alarm goes off.
It’s not a siren; it’s for an American basketball game. When Deni Avdija, the 25-year-old forward from Herzliya is the star player representing Israel in the NBA playoffs, Israelis don’t sleep through it.
Deni just scored 41 points in a must-win playoff game. He leads the Portland Trail Blazers into the first round against the San Antonio Spurs. And for a country that has been through hell these past two years, watching him play feels like more than sports.
Welcome to the Deni Avdija show.
Born in 2001 on Kibbutz Beit Zera in northern Israel, Deni is the product of a unique, only-in-Israel story. His Muslim father came from Kosovo to play professional basketball in Israel in the 1990s — and never left. He met Deni's Israeli mother there, herself a professional athlete, built a life, and raised a family. Deni identifies as Jewish, and has never let anyone forget it. His parents watched his son grow up to carry the Israeli flag across the world.
Deni debuted for Maccabi Tel Aviv at the age of 16, the youngest player ever to do so, and went on to win both the Israeli basketball league championship and its Most Valuable Player award. The wider basketball world soon took notice, and in 2020, he was drafted ninth overall by the Washington Wizards — the highest an Israeli player had ever been selected.
But before boarding a flight to Washington, Deni did something that every Israeli his age is required to do. He showed up to the Tel HaShomer military base with his parents and enlisted in the Israel Defense Forces. Due to his unique situation, he was granted a shortened service role as an "Exceptional Athlete."
"I am happy and proud to join the IDF just like every other citizen of my age," he said at the time. "I will do whatever is asked of me just like I do on the basketball court." Then he went to America and became a star.
Deni's talent was obvious from the start, even as the Washington Wizards floundered around him. It took a trade to Portland to put him in the right situation, and he made the most of it — earning his first All-Star selection this season and a nomination for Most Improved Player. But through it all, he has never left Israel behind.
When a wave of terror attacks struck Israel in 2022, he drew Stars of David on his sneakers and wrote Am Yisrael Chai — the Jewish people live — before taking the court. "My heart is with Israel," he told reporters simply.
Earlier, during his rookie season, he had worn black to the arena on Holocaust Remembrance Day and inscribed Yizkor — will remember — on his shoes in Hebrew. "I'm blessed and glad I had the opportunity to play on an NBA court and wear those shoes with those letters," he said, "and basically represent the whole Jewish community in Israel and all over the world."
When Yom Kippur arrived in his first season with Portland, he sat out a pre-season game to observe the holiday. "I feel that the best way to start the season," he said, "is by honoring Jewish tradition and standing united with my fellow Jews in Israel and around the world."
There is a Jewish concept called kiddush Hashem, sanctifying God's name in public. It is among the highest callings in Jewish life: to conduct oneself, in full view of the world, in a way that reflects honor on the Jewish people and their covenant with God. One doesn't usually encounter it on a basketball court. The world noticed.
Not everyone has cheered for Deni’s rise. At the NBA All-Star Game this February — the first time an Israeli player had ever been selected — Spike Lee arrived courtside in a keffiyeh-patterned sweater and the Israeli flag on Deni's jersey generated as much commentary as anything that happened on the court.
Deni's response was measured but firm: "I'm a proud Israeli, because that's where I grew up. I wouldn't be where I am today if it weren't for Israel and the support the people gave me. But if you're not educated about the Middle East and don't understand how far back this goes — just don't say anything."
Professor Yair Galily, who heads the Sport, Media and Society Research Lab at Reichman University, has observed the Avdija phenomenon closely. "We're looking for a reason to be happy," he explained. "Deni's success gives us a sense of returning to life" in a country fractured by war and grief, Deni is a figure that Israelis across every divide agree on.
Because what Deni carries onto that court every night isn't just a basketball. It's a kibbutz, a flag, memory, and the quiet insistence that the Jewish people are still here — still competing, still winning, still refusing to disappear. Deni Avdija is making sure the whole world knows it.
