By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net

Hapoel Tel Aviv Ofer Yannay explained how the club signed former EuroLeague MVP Vasilije Micic while multiple powerhouses had also extended offers to the Serbian superstar guard.

“To steal such a player from Real, Fenerbahce and Olympiakos is a huge thing,” Yannay said to Telesport. “It shows that there is a new player in town and he is ready to change some things. I just hope that the Euroleague will listen to me and allow me to improve European basketball. There is a lot of room for improvement and we deserve to have a strong European league, so I hope they accept their new player (laughs). At least I hope so. As far as you are concerned, I again think that our main asset was our connection. I grew up in a poor family and I did everything myself. I’m not an arrogant person and people appreciate that. Also, I said that to Vasa, what we are trying to do in Hapoel is big. There are people like Gilar Annan in the management, we have big investors, we will have even more of them.”

Yannay discussed why he believes Micic had an extra motivation to join Hapoel instead of a club like Real Madrid, for example.

“The players are young, and it is clear that they cannot be athletes forever,” Yannay said. “I told Vasa that by coming to Hapoel he will be surrounded by influential people from whom he can learn a lot. Also, Sergio Scariolo once told me that a coach doesn’t want to come to a place that was successful both before and after him, and not to a place that lost both before and after him. Everyone wants to come to a new place and be part of the creation of something great. From Vasa’s point of view, going to Real and eventually winning the Euroleague does not represent much, since in that case it is irrelevant whether he, Tavares or Campazzo brought the trophy. However, coming to Hapoel, who did not play in the Euroleague and won it with us, represents something legendary.”

“In addition to everything, the two of us also had a mystical moment,” Yannay added. “I had a call with Micić and the agent and it seemed that we were not going in the right direction, the difference in ideas was huge and obvious. In the end, I told Vasa and the agent that in certain parts of the conversation I had a tremendous intuition, like a prophecy, where I clearly saw the future. This has happened to me several times in my life and it helped me build a company. After the end of the conversation, it was clear to me that Vasa was not coming to Hapoel, and I mention this to you because I was surprised that my vision did not come true for the first time. However, late yesterday evening, after we finished the negotiations, Vasa reminded me of that vision and told me that his wife had a dream in which she was coming to Hapoel. I told him that he should have told me earlier, so that I could pay him less (laughs). I think it was written in the stars, we’re very lucky to have him.”

By signing with Hapoel, Micic became the highest-paid player in the EuroLeague, passing Panathinaikos Athens superstar guard and reigning MVP Kendrick Nunn. According to Eurhooops sources, Micic agreed to a 14 million, three-year deal with the Israeli side.

Yannay mentioned that all teams targetting Micic offered the Serbian guard the same amount of money and what worked to his Hapoel’s favor was that they offered him club shares.

“Does anyone really think that others offered less?” All clubs gave the same money,” said Yannay. “The only difference is that we gave him shares. In my opinion, Vasa is the best player in Europe. If you have a basketball player who comes in with that kind of reputation, he doesn’t have the status of just a player. If Hapoel becomes a standard member of the Euroleague, the value increases a lot. If the NBA comes to Europe, the value of the team will be 10, 15, 50 times higher. Vasa is also a businessman, a very smart guy. He understood that. Real Madrid will never give shares, neither will Fenerbahce, but we managed to do it because we have a different perception of ownership.”

According to Eurohoops information, all offers made to Micic by other clubs were significantly lower compared to what Hapoel offered him.