Maccabi's co-owner reveals club's major shift, recounts Anthony Parker story / News - Basketnews.com

Danny Federman, Maccabi Tel Aviv's co-owner, commented on a thorny statement made by Oded Kattash and the officiating in the games vs. Monaco. He also revealed a disagreement with Giannis Sfairopoulos, and named two players who were close to coming back.

Credit: Fernando Medina/NBAE via Getty Images Credit Fernando Medina/NBAE via Getty Images

After a long season that ended on a high note, Danny Federman, one of the owners of Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv, was a guest on the program 'Talking with Shay Hauzman' on Sport 5 and touched on a wide range of topics.

"It was a very successful season," Federman began. "If Hapoel Tel Aviv had won the championship, it would have been case of losing while you are a better team in three games. It would have been a disaster by Maccabi Tel Aviv's standards," he admitted.

Federman shared about the moment when he was worried during the season: "It was when Darrun Hilliard stayed in Israel on the trip to Munich. The whole atmosphere seemed unfavorable, and many doubted whether Oded [Kattash] would be able to put the team on track.

In the end, the role of the coach is to win, and ask questions. For example, why do they look like that? Why doesn't Hilliard fit in? What can be done differently? His job is to give us confidence about what he's doing -- and he did it."

Regarding Kattash statement about not having the management's support, the owner said: "It was a bad statement by Oded, I think he admitted that it was a mistake.

I was very surprised by that quote. I received messages about it and I said to myself, 'well, he means the media.' Then I realized that he talked to Ami [Biton, the club's team manager] and he said he was wrong and that it was out of place."

Federman thinks it's natural that every coach who joins Maccabi is under a lot of pressure.

"I explained to Oded that we want to maintain a sterile environment around the coach because there were years when we weren't good at it. For my part, I said he was going through a difficult time and I didn't want to be another person putting pressure on him."

Federman was asked if Kattash is a top EuroeLeague coach and also talked about the interest in Xavi Pascual.

"Definitely a top coach and I hope he will be here for many more years. You can't make the comparisons to Xavi Pascual and Pablo Laso because these guys won the EuroLeague. But if right now, for that matter, the contract with Kattash is over and Pascual isn't available, there is no reason not to continue with Kattash. He has proven himself very well this season in Maccabi Tel Aviv."

The Israeli exec admitted the club had "a conversation with Xavi Pascual, who was better than Oded at that point," but added that "maybe today, the picture looks different."

When asked what Maccabi were missing to make the Euroleague Final Four, Federman said:

"A whistle here, a whistle there. In Game 2 vs. Monaco, there were a lot more than two whistles. The person who was responsible for those issues is Nikola Vujicic. There was bad officiating even in Game 1 that we won.

The EuroLeague management agreed with us that the officiating was unprofessional, that's what I heard. But that can happen."

Federman commented on the signing of Lorenzo Brown, comparing it with that of Scottie Wilbekin, who "hada Turkish passport and was in demand in Turkey, and so was Lorenzo in Spain."

"He is an amazing player, that's why we signed him to a long-term contract, but I won't lie to you and say that when we signed him, we told ourselves that we would be one game away from the Final Four," he conceded.

Federman's greatest moment since being at Maccabi Tel Aviv has been the victory over CSKA Moscow in the 2014 Final Four semi-final.

"I still don't understand how we won, I watch the game to this day and am afraid it will end in a loss. You would see me crying, like a little girl. That team was extraordinary, one of my favorites."

Federman recalled the departure of Tyrese Rice after Maccabi won the cup that year. The American guard signed a two-year deal with Khimki.

"Unfortunately, a player like Tyrese Rice, with whom we had a contract of $300,000 received a contract of 1,8 million euros. We didn't lose him for $50,000, that's not true," he clarified.

"I was on the phone and I spoke with Rice two minutes after he had talked to Khimki and we didn't even stand a chance."

When asked how close Anthony Parker was to making a comeback, Federman replied:

"Wow, very close! It was the NBA lockout [in 2011]. I met him with his wife and kids at the beach, we exchanged a few words between us and then I went home and called Ami Biton, and asked how crazy it would be If we were to bring him back.

He told me to wait and call him, make an appointment with him at the apartment and I got there. We talked, I returned home, we talked with my father [David Federman, Maccabi's long-time co-owner] and Shimon [Mizrahi, the club's honorary president] and made him an offer.

He asked to take 24 hours to think about it. After that, he came back and said that he wanted to leave his legacy intact and that he would play one last season in the NBA or retire."

Federman revealed that Sarunas Jasikevicius was also "very close to returning at least once, if not twice, but it fell through because of a coach's decision."

Federman was asked about the club's dark days after 2015, when the team could rarely or barely reach the playoffs and Maccabi presented a rather dysfunctional modus operandi.

"There were two or three years when our internal decision-making, distribution of responsibilities and powers was broken," he admitted.

"The debate was about who should have the powers and who would make the decisions. We didn't have the perception that there should be a separation between the ownership and the executive-administrative side. Since the 2017-2018 season, the owners of Maccabi Tel Aviv have no say in professional decisions," he pointed out.

Federman gave an example of a decision in which the management tried to intervene. It was the case of Chris Jones, who joined the club in 2020.

"It was a unanimous decision made by the entire board and also the staff, except for the coach. Giannis [Sfairopoulos] thought that the player didn't fit his style of play and wanted something different.

It's part of taking responsibility as a coach. When you're successful, you're number 1. But the Chris Jones story isn't the reason why Giannis isn't at Maccabi anymore. The reasons for it is that the results were bad and that we lost too many derbies that season."

Federman referred to the option of a tycoon arriving who would want to buy the team.

"If something like that happens, it can do good for Maccabi. If someone can do a better job than us for 20-30 years, then yes. Maccabi's secret is not to throw away 10 or 15 million a year but to stay in the top for 50 years," he noted.

Federman also addressed claims that Maccabi blocked Hapoel Jerusalem from participating in the EuroLeague, stressing that a BCL team is impossible to enter the top competition.

"As far as I know, the champion of the BCL does not make it to the EuroLeague. The only way to enter is through the EurouCup. In the past, there was no discussion as to whether Hapoel Jerusalem could be in the EuroLeague. They were in the EurouCp for three years and didn't make it past the first group stage.

I have an interest as an Israeli that there will be more teams from the country in the EuroLeague, which is built on long-term projects. Will it hurt to have another Israeli team in the Euroleague? Of course not. It's good for Israeli basketball, but it's not a simple 'let's allow Jerusalem to enter', it doesn't work that way," he concluded.

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