Hapoel Jerusalem B.C.

Hapoel Jerusalem
Leagues	Israeli Premier League Champions League
Founded	1943; 78 years ago (1943)
History	Hapoel Jerusalem B.C. (1943–present)
Arena	Pais Arena
Capacity	11,000
Location	Jerusalem
Team colors	Red, Black, White
Main sponsor	Bank Yahav
President	Eyal Chomsky
General manager	Guy Harel
Head coach	Yotam Halperin
Championships	2 Israeli Championship 1 EuroCup 6 Israeli State Cups 5 Israeli League Cups
Website	hapoel.co.il
Home Away Third

Hapoel Jerusalem Basketball Club (Hebrew: הפועל ירושלים), for sponsorships reasons Hapoel Bank Yahav Jerusalem, is a professional basketball club based out of the City of Jerusalem, and competes in the Israeli Basketball Premier League (the top tier of Israeli basketball), the Israeli State Cup, and the Basketball Champions League. It has won several titles, including the ULEB Cup (now called EuroCup) in 2004, the Israeli Basketball Premier League championship in 2015 and 2017, and six state Cups. In 2013, a new ownership group headed by Ori Allon took over, and the club has since seen a remarkable advancement and expansion. The team began playing in the Jerusalem Arena in 2014.

History[]

Hapoel Jerusalem Basketball Club was founded in 1935, and incorporated in 1943.^[1][2] It had its first appearance in the Israeli Basketball Premier League in 1955. Hapoel played in the first division most of the 1950s and 1960s, with notable players, such as David Kaminsky and Amir Berlinsky. The following two decades had ups and downs, as Hapoel toggled between the first and second divisions.

In 1986, led by coach Simi Riger, the team advanced to the Premier League, after five consecutive years in the second division.^[1] Since then, Hapoel has remained in the Premier League.^[1] In 1996 and 1997, Hapoel won the State Cup, defeating Maccabi Tel Aviv in the finals, at the Yad Eliyahu Arena.^[1] The team was led by Adi Gordon.^[1]

In 2004, Hapoel Jerusalem won its first European title, the ULEB Cup (EuroCup), defeating Real Madrid in the final in Charleroi, Belgium.^[3][4]

In 2005, Israeli-Russian billionaire Arcadi Gaydamak purchased a large stake in the club.^[1] As a result, the team got stronger and signed four American players with an NBA record – Tamar Slay, Horace Jenkins, Roger Mason, and Mario Austin, as well as Israeli star Meir Tapiro.^[1]

In 2007, Hapoel won its third Israel State Cup, defeating Bnei HaSharon.^[1] In early 2008 Hapoel came back from being 22 points down in the 4th quarter, to win its fourth State Cup, beating Maccabi Tel Aviv 93–89.^{[4] [1]} In late 2008 it won its first Israeli Basketball League Cup, beating Ironi Nahariya.^[1]

In September 2009, oil tycoon Guma Aguiar joined Hapoel Jerusalem as the team's sponsor and helped pay the debts left by Gaydamak.^[1] On October 8, 2009, Hapoel beat Maccabi Tel Aviv in the Winner Cup finals, winning the club's second cup in a row.^[1] One year after the mysterious disappearance of Guma Aguiar, in 2013 a new ownership group headed by entrepreneur Ori Allon took over.^[1] Guy Harel succeeded Dani Klein as general manager.^[1]

In April 2014, the New York Post and The Wall Street Journal reported that six-time NBA All-Star Amar'e Stoudemire might join Hapoel after his contract with the New York Knicks expired at the end of the 2014–15 NBA season.^[5][6] Stoudemire decided to retire from the NBA in July 2016.^[1]

Amar'e Stoudemire signed a two-year contract with Hapoel Jerusalem on August 1, 2016.^[7][8] In his first season with the team he helped it win the Israeli Basketball League Cup, beating Maccabi Tel Aviv Basketball.^[8]

On June 20, 2014 the club signed coach Danny Franco.^[1] That same day, the club also signed season MVP Donta Smith.^[9] On June 25, 2014, the Executive Board of Euroleague Commercial Assets agreed to give Hapoel a wild-card to compete for a spot in the EuroLeague qualifications.^[10]

On June 25, 2015, Hapoel won the Israeli Basketball Premier League Championship for the first time in their history, defeating Hapoel Eilat in the Final.^[1] On June 15, 2017 the club won the Israeli Championship for the second time, defeating Maccabi Haifa in the Israeli Final.^[1][11]

Team management[]

Ownership[]

• 10% – The Amuta.
• 90% – An ownership group, headed by majority owner Ori Allon, including Eyal Chomsky, Shalom Menora, David Kleinhandler and Howard Wietschner.

The new ownership group and corporate management is considered among the most professionally diverse sports ownership groups in the world, as it includes a software developer, who sold two software companies to Google and Twitter (Allon), an American and Israeli real estate and hi-tech businessman (Menora), the CEO of Israel's leading media group (Chomsky), and a retired partner at Goldman Sachs (Wietschner).^{[12][13][14][15]}

Staff[]

• General manager: Guy Harel
• Head coach: Yotam Halperin
• Assistant coaches: Guni Israeli
• Physiotherapists: Gadi Hadad and Yanai Barak
• Team doctor: Dr. Jonathan (Jonty) Maresky
• Orthopedist: Dr. Adi Fridman

Fans and arena[]

The Brigade[]

Brigade Malcha is the official ultras organization of Hapoel Jerusalem B.C. In Malha Arena, the Brigade was located behind the south side basket. At the Jerusalem Arena, the Brigade is located in stands #1 and #12. The Brigade has close connections with the team itself, and is consulted by management on instrumental decisions, such as changing the team logo, and planning events with the community.

Rivalry with Maccabi Tel Aviv[]

Since the founding of the club in 1943, Hapoel Jerusalem has developed a major rivalry with Tel Aviv's leading basketball club Maccabi Tel Aviv. Throughout the years, many games between the two teams became a part of the 'Hall of Fame' of Israeli basketball. The rivalry between the teams is very deep and emotional. Due to its vast size, the Jerusalem Arena has brought Israel's largest basketball rivalry to a whole new level.

Malha Arena (1985–2014)[]

When Hapoel Jerusalem was founded, it initially played in a small court on Histadrut Street, in the city center, before moving to the Jerusalem International YMCA arena. In the mid-1950s, it moved to the only indoor arena in Jerusalem at that time, "the Straus Arena," in the Histadrut building, on Straus Street. Malha Arena was used as Hapoel Jerusalem's home area from 1985 to 2014. It has a seating capacity of 3,000 seats, with 2,540 seats in its lower tier, an additional 460 seats in its upper tier. With its small size, the arena traps in noise, and distracts the opposing team. This gives a boost to players towards the end of the game when they need it most, according to the former head coach of Hapoel Jerusalem, Oded Kattash.

Jerusalem Arena (2014–present)[]

Former Mayor of Jerusalem, and Prime Minister of Israel, Ehud Olmert, proposed the master plan for the arena in 2004, and it took ten years to build. Though the Jerusalem Arena is less than two kilometers from the team's previous home, which was opened in 1985, it is exponentially larger. The arena features 11,000 seats, four times as many as in Goldberg Arena, and all the modern amenities expected of a modern basketball venue. The stadium has twelve corporate boxes, each listed for $100,000 per season. The site was chosen far back, but the building only took place in recent years. With an eye towards what the future might bring, the arena has been built to EuroLeague standards. Playing in the EuroLeague in the next few years, is a goal that the team has publicly set for itself.^[16] The Jerusalem Arena was opened in the 2014–15 season.

Sponsors[]

The team's main corporate sponsor is Bank Yahav. Secondary sponsors include Burgers Bar, Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn, and Ein Gedi Mineral Water.^[17]

Current roster[]

Hapoel Jerusalem roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Nat. Name Ht. Age F 2 Workman, Willy 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) 31 – (1990-03-14)14 March 1990 G 4 Adams, Jalen 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) 26 – (1995-12-11)11 December 1995 G 5 Gershon, Amit 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) 26 – (1995-12-05)5 December 1995 C 6 Segev, Itay 2.05 m (6 ft 9 in) 26 – (1995-06-15)15 June 1995 F 8 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) 29 – (1992-11-15)15 November 1992 G 11 Ariel, Adam (C) 1.95 m (6 ft 5 in) 27 – (1994-12-10)10 December 1994 F 13 Bennett, Anthony 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in) 28 – (1993-03-14)14 March 1993 G 15 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) 19 – (2002-12-09)9 December 2002 F/C 17 Braimoh, Suleiman 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in) 32 – (1989-10-19)19 October 1989 F 22 Gates, Kaiser 2.01 m (6 ft 7 in) 25 – (1996-11-08)8 November 1996 G 23 Kilpatrick, Sean 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) 31 – (1990-01-06)6 January 1990 G 32 Obasohan, Retin 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) 28 – (1993-07-06)6 July 1993 G 33 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in) 18 – (2003-03-20)20 March 2003	Head coach Oren Amiel Assistant coach(es) Donaldas Kairys Guni Israeli Athletic trainer(s) Dusko Markovic Legend (C) Team captain (IN) Inactive player Injured Roster Updated: November 28, 2021

Depth chart[]

Pos.	Starting 5	Bench 1	Bench 2
C	John Egbunu	Itay Segev
PF	Suleiman Braimoh	Kaiser Gates	Anthony Bennett
SF	Willy Workman	Adam Ariel
SG	Sean Kilpatrick	Amit Gershon
PG	Retin Obasohan	Jalen Adams

Notable players[]

Criteria
To appear in this section a player must have either: Set a club record or won an individual award while at the club. Played at least one official international match for their national team at any time. Played at least one official NBA match at any time.

• David Bernsley (born 1969)
• Erez Markovich (born 1978), Israeli

Head coaches[]

• David Kaminsky

Season by season[]

Season	Tier	League	Pos.	Israeli Cup	League Cup	European competitions
1991–92	1	Premier League	5th	Eightfinalist	N/A	3 Korać Cup	EF
1992–93			4th	Semifinalist		3 Korać Cup	PR
1993–94			3rd	Semifinalist		3 Korać Cup	PR
1994–95			7th	Semifinalist		2 Saporta Cup	PR
1995–96			2nd	Champions
1996–97			2nd	Champions		2 Saporta Cup	QF
1997–98			4th			1 Euroleague	RS
1998–99			2nd	Runner-up		1 Saporta Cup	EF
1999–00			7th	Runner-up		2 Saporta Cup	EF
2000–01			2nd	Runner-up		1 Euroleague	RS
2001–02			3rd	Runner-up		1 Euroleague	RS
2002–03			8th	Semifinalist		3 EuroCup Challenge	GS2
2003–04			5th	Runner-up		2 ULEB Cup	C
2004–05			5th	Eightfinalist		2 ULEB Cup	RS
2005–06			2nd	Runner-up		2 ULEB Cup	SF
2006–07			2nd	Champions	3rd	2 ULEB Cup	QF
2007–08			5th	Champions	Runner-up	2 ULEB Cup	R32
2008–09			4th	Semifinalist	Champions	3 EuroChallenge	RS
2009–10			3rd	Eightfinalist	Champions	2 Eurocup	QF
2010–11			3rd	Quarterfinalist	Runner-up	2 Eurocup	RS
2011–12			6th	Eightfinalist	Semifinalist	2 Eurocup	RS
2012–13			4th		Semifinalist	2 Eurocup	RS
2013–14			3rd	Eightfinalist	Runner-up	2 Eurocup	QF
2014–15			1st	Runner-up	Champions	2 Eurocup	RS
2015–16			2nd	Eightfinalist	Quarterfinalist	2 Eurocup	R32
2016–17			1st	Runner-up	Champions	2 EuroCup	SF
2017–18			3rd	Semifinalist	Quarterfinalist	2 EuroCup	RS
2018–19			Semifinalist	Champions	Semifinalist	3 Champions League	QF
2019–20			Semifinalist	Champions	Champions	3 Champions League	QF
2020–21			Quarterfinalist	Semifinalist	Semifinalist	3 Champions League	RS
						Balkan League	RS
2021–22					Semifinalist	3 Champions League	Regular season
Season	Tier	League	Pos.	Israeli Cup	League Cup	European competitions

Italic — Still active.

Logos[]

Historical Club Logos and Emblems Since 1943

• 

  Current Logo

Honours[]

Total titles: 14

Domestic[]

Israeli Championships

• Winners (2): 2015, 2017
• Runner-up (7): 1996, 1997, 1999, 2001, 2006, 2007, 2016

State Cup

• Winners (6): 1996, 1997, 2007, 2008, 2019, 2020
• Runner-up (8): 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2015, 2017

League Cup

• Winners (5): 2008, 2009, 2014, 2016, 2019
• Runner-up (3): 2007, 2010, 2013

European[]

ULEB Cup (EuroCup)

• Winners (1): 2004

References[]

External links[]

• Official website (in English and Hebrew)
• Eurobasket.com team Page
• Fan site (in Hebrew)