The 2016-17 season was surely one to remember for basket fans in the capital of Israel. It was clear Jerusalem would be aiming high when Amar’e Stoudemire signed and Coach Simone Pianigiani was hired, giving the club two leaders with rich pedigrees. A season-=opening road win at Valencia Basket and a 3-0 start showed that Jerusalem was indeed a force to be reckoned with. Jerusalem went on to finish second in its regular season group and – with Curtis Jerrells and Stoudemire leading the way – went 5-1 in the Top 16 to win that group. Jerusalem avenged some bad losses in previous season at the hands of Herbalife Gran Canaria Las Palmas by sweeping it in the quarterfinals before meeting Valencia in the semifinals. Each team won at home as Valencia won the series 2-1. Jerrells was rewarded for his excellent season with All-EuroCup First Team honors and Stoudemire was selected to the second team. Jerusalem stumbled a bit at home after the EuroCup, but regrouped in time to finish the regular season in third place and then bounced back from a 2-0 deficit in the best-of-five quarterfinals against Ironi Nahariya to win the series and keep the momentum going until it claimed the Israeli championship for just the second time in club history.

EuroLeague

EuroCup

Hapoel Bank Yahav Jerusalem comes off a season in which it won the Israeli League championship for the second time in three years and reached the 7DAYS EuroCup Semifinals. And still the club from the Israeli capital is hungry for more. Jerusalem has long been a hoops town, with organized basketball in the city dating back to before the establishment of the State of Israel. Jerusalem was among the first teams when the Israeli League was founded in 1955, but it was not until the 1990s that the club became the clear No. 2 in Israeli basketball behind Maccabi Tel Aviv. Star guard Adi Gordon and forward Billy Thompson led Jerusalem to its first two titles, the 1996 and 1997 Israeli Cups. Jerusalem reached the 1997 Saporta Cup quarterfinals and played the EuroLeague for the first time in the 1997-98 season. In 1999, Jerusalem beat out Maccabi for first place in the Israeli League regular season, but came up short in the playoff finals. The club played the original EuroLeague season in 2000-01 and a year later Meir Tapiro helped Jerusalem climb to the Saporta Cup semifinals. Jerusalem made basketball history in 2004 when Willie Solomon, Doron Sheffer, Kelly McCarty and Tunji Awojobi led the team past Real Madrid in the ULEB Cup title game in Charleroi, Belgium, for its first – and to date only – European trophy. Jerusalem reached the ULEB Cup semifinal in 2006 and lifted the Israeli Cup again in 2007 and 2008. The club remained a regular in the Israeli playoff semifinals and even made a pair of quarterfinal runs in the EuroCup in 2010 and 2014. After Ori Allon led a new ownership group that took charge in 2013 and the club moved into a magnificent new arena in the Holy City, Jerusalem started to aim much higher. Led by Donta Smith, Lior Eliyahu and Yotam Halperin, Jerusalem won its first-ever Israeli League championship in 2015 by downing Hapoel Eilat in the finals. Jerusalem looked poised for a repeat after placing first at the end of the Israeli regular season in 2016, but was upset in the single-game final at home. Last season was among Jerusalem’s best ever as Curtis Jerrells, Amar’e Stoudemire and co. came within one win in the semifinals against Valencia Basket of taking the club to the EuroCup Finals for the second time and regained the Israeli League crown. The bar seems to get higher and higher every season for this club.

Trophy Case