Jewogle - Yotam Halperin

Biography:

Yotam Halperin (Hebrew:יוֹתָם הַלְפֶּרִין ;born January 24, 1984 in Tel Aviv, Israel) is an Israeli basketball player currently playing with Maccabi Tel Aviv.

Yotam grew up in Tel Aviv and was the basketball star of Metrowest High School in Ra'anana. He declared himself eligible for the 2006 NBA Draft, and the Seattle SuperSonics selected him in the second round, with the 53rd overall pick.

Career:

Halperin played in the Maccabi Tel Aviv juniors since he was 8 years old. After finishing high school Halperin had a tough time fitting in since Maccabi Tel Aviv had so many stars, such as Ariel McDonald and Anthony Parker.

Halperin sat on the bench for the Maccabi Tel Aviv team until 2005. He got an offer from KK Union Olimpija in Ljubljana and emerged as a star in the 2005-06 season, winning the Slovenian three-point competition and putting up big numbers for Olimpija both in the Slovenian league and in the Euroleague.

He won the Slovenian National Cup and the Slovenian championship with KK Union Olimpia after completing the final series in the Slovenian playoffs (3-2 in the final to KK Union Olimpia).

Yotam is projected to be the first Israeli in the NBA. Unfortunately, his draft placement was not enough to secure him a guaranteed contract, so he returned to Israel to spend the 2006-07 season with Maccabi Tel Aviv.