Scottie Wilbekin comments on his possible return to Maccabi / News - Basketnews.com

Scottie Wilbekin didn't make a great deal out of Maccabi's now-deleted tweet. He loved visiting Tel Aviv in his free days but admits that coming back to play there is highly unlikely.

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After spending four years with Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv, Scottie Wilbekin is now a part of Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul, competing for trophies in a country he has played before.

Free throws this season

71%11,3Points made:11,3Accuracy:71,4%Place in standings:13Record max:20Record min:8Most made FTs:Johnathan MotleyTeamEuroLeagueStatisticsSchedule

However, when the guard had a couple of free days from practice, he decided to visit Tel Aviv and the Winner Cup game where Maccabi played.

Scottie sat down with BasketNews' Martyna Motum to talk about his experience coming back to the city where he formerly played.

"They were pretty excited. I actually went into the game from the wrong entrance. I didn't know I was supposed to go through the team entrance, so I went through the fans' entrance, and it was right in the middle of the crazy fans where all the real deal fans are," Wilbekin told.

"It was kind of a mob when we walked in. My wife was carrying a coke, I had popcorn, and we were trying not to spill it. We were bumping into everybody. I don't know if they were surprised because we had posted a picture from our favorite restaurant a couple of hours before the game, so people knew that I was there, they didn't know if I was actually coming to the game," the player explained. "They were pretty excited, it was cool."

Two weeks ago, Scottie had a chance to play against his former team in the EuroLeague. Before the match, Maccabi posted a tweet comparing the stats of Wilbekin and Wade Baldwin IV.

It was only Round 2 of the tournament, and the two players had only played a single game at that point. With Wilbekin being one of the most beloved Maccabi players, the post received backlash and was quickly deleted.

"My wife sent it to me, and my first reaction wasn't anything crazy. I knew how much I scored in the first game, and I know that Maccabi always do the matchup [comparison before the game], so I was like damn, I only scored 6 points in that game, and nothing else," Scottie said.

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Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul Valencia Basket79-77 Anadolu Efes Istanbul Fenerbahce Beko IstanbulFri17:30

"Then she showed all of the comments saying that it was disrespectful. I didn't really take it that way, but I know most people did. It kind of took on a life of its own. I knew that my stats wouldn't be like that, so it didn't really bother me that much," the player explained. "I know everyone in the Maccabi media department, and they actually apologized to me, and I just told them there was nothing to worry about."

After spending several seasons with Maccabi and becoming the leader of the team, Wilbekin left the club this summer to join Fenerbahce. Would he be willing to come back to the team where he established himself as a EuroLeague star?

Scottie didn't want to deny it but provided an explanation about the possible outcome.

"I got asked that a lot in Tel Aviv. Would I? Yeah, but I don't know if that will happen. I would say it's probably not likely just because of the way things actually are at work and in real life. Not to get into too many specifics, but the tax situation that they have over there for foreign players would make it hard for me just from a technical standpoint," the player explained.

"I obviously still love Maccabi, and I won't rule it out, but I see a lot of years in Fenerbahce, I see myself being in a Fenerbahce jersey for many years," he said.

In the second edition of "Hanging Out w/ Martyna Motum", Scottie Wilbekin also talks about joining Fenerbahce and coming back to Turkey to play for coach Dimitris Itoudis. The player expands on his off-the-court hobbies, the atmosphere in the new club, and more.

Full episode of "Hanging Out w/ Martyna Motum" with Scottie Wilbekin:

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