12/18: A Dazzling Debut
Deni Avdija is already making people swoon.
You’re reading DENI DIARY, a weekly blog about the rookie season of Deni Avdija, the Israeli phenom who plays for the NBA’s Washington Wizards.
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It only took five quarters of preseason action for Drew Gooden — a retired NBA veteran who does color commentary on Washington Wizards broadcasts — to reach a verdict on Deni Avdija.
“He’s ready,” Gooden gushed after Avdija delivered a neat bounce pass for an assist Thursday night. “He doesn’t need any more reps. That’s a pro right there. I’ve seen enough!”
It took almost as long for the young Israeli to miss a shot. In his dazzling preseason debut on Monday, 19-year-old Avdija connected on all five field goal attempts, including three from behind the arc and a running floater to beat the halftime buzzer. “Happy Hanukkah!” the announcers chortled after Deni swished a jumper from the right wing.
And while he missed all of his threes last night, the rest of the package that made Deni the ninth pick in November’s draft — his unselfishness, creativity in transition, and high basketball I.Q. — continued to shine through.
“What I love the most about him is his competitive spirit, and his nature that he doesn’t back down from anybody,” Bradley Beal, the Wizards’ top scorer and longest-tenured player, said after the game.
It’s only been two games, preseason games at that, but Deni doesn’t just look promising. He looks good. Washington’s coach, Scott Brooks, said Deni might start at small forward on opening night.
If he were merely a good Israeli basketball player, dayenu. Omri Casspi wasn’t bad, though he never got much better after a positive rookie season for the Sacramento Kings. Deni already appears a more complete player, and certainly comes more highly touted. He would probably not be worth a newsletter, though, if he were merely a solid pro out of Beit Zera.
What’s more surprising, and frankly, exciting, is that Avdija seems genuinely, uh, Jewish! The son of a Serbian Muslim (who played in the Israeli basketball league) and an Israeli Jewish mother (a track-and-field athlete), there really was no guarantee that Avdija would have any affinity for Jewish tradition. Indeed, Jewish fans often get invested in Jewish professional athletes who don’t really care to be identified as such, let alone serve as some representative of the faith. Omri Casspi didn’t have a bar mitzvah. I’m guessing Joc Pederson doesn’t know the Hanukkah blessings.
Deni does!
“Hanukkah means a lot for me,” he says before launching into the blessings. “It’s a holiday I did my whole childhood in Israel, and...I love it.” (We won’t begrudge him a “vetzivanu.”)
To recap: There is an Israeli Jew who might start as a rookie in the NBA, a 6-foot-9 Sabra whose shot release looks like Klay Thompson’s, with the size and skill set and most importantly the panache to have a long career in the NBA.
He’s also candid and interesting — so far. (Let’s hope the grind of media availability doesn’t beat that out of him.) And he’s a fluent English speaker. Dayenu! “It’s all new to me,” he said of the adjustment period. “The whole environment, playing [power forward], it will take some time for me to adjust, I’ll be honest with you. I’m also new to the United States.”
The top prospect in Israeli basketball history, Deni has played alongside ex-NBA stars at Maccabi Tel Aviv since he was 16, which partly explains his professional temperament. But there’s something innate, too, in his hashkafa, an optimism and savoir faire that runs through his game.
I hope you’ll join us as we follow along with Deni during his first year in the States. But for now, let’s celebrate his blissful beginning, even if it was only the preseason. This time next week, his wizardry will count.
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