Leadership under fire: Hapoel Tel Aviv owner Ofer Yannay navigates challenges

Hapoel Tel Aviv has been navigating turbulent weeks with player shifts, losses in Europe, and close games in the Israeli league. Adding to the uncertainty, the future of head coach Stefanos Dedas remains unclear.

Following the Reds' narrow 96-95 victory over Kiryat Ata at the Drive-In Arena, there was a stir when Dedas left the court without attending the postgame press conference.

This departure came after owner Ofer Yannay publicly mentioned during halftime the possibility of bringing in additional coaching support to work either alongside or above Dedas. Yannay instructed Dedas not to speak to the media after the game, and the coach complied.

Addressing recent challenges 

Yannay, who previously compared the team to the Avengers, addressed the recent challenges and outlined his preferred outcome regarding Dedas’s role.

“It’s not certain we want to replace him. Perhaps we’ll bring in another coach to work with him. Everyone has their job, and if improvements are needed, we’ll make them. I didn’t say he should go. I just said if they keep questioning his status, he shouldn’t be interviewed.”

In reflecting on Dedas’s potential role, Yannay cited an example from Maccabi Tel Aviv’s 2003/04 season.

“Do you remember Maccabi Tel Aviv from the 2003/04 season? David Blatt was there, and then they brought in Pini Gershon, and they worked with the team together. With the amount of egos we have here and the number of players we have, you need a senior assistant or a senior coach. Dimitris Itoudis and Sergio Scariolo? All of these top coaches want to come, and we want to see what will happen. Officially, everybody wants to come.”

Yannay also discussed the recent Jonathan Motley saga. Motley left the team soon after scoring 30 points in a EuroCup game, seeking a salary boost and drawing interest from teams such as Real Madrid.

“What is happening with Motley is a battle of attrition with the agent. If Real Madrid is interested, I am ready to give him to them in exchange for a Euroleague license. This entire episode has promoted the club’s name in Europe.

When the team was once talked about as a project, people are now talking about us as a serious franchise. I think his agent made a mistake because he greatly underestimated Hapoel. It’s a mistake that will cost him dearly.”

The Reds also released Ben Bentil recently, while Joe Ragland—who has yet to play in the Israeli league—is rumored to be leaving. To bolster their lineup, Hapoel has signed Antonio Blakeney.

“We saw that Blakeney was in good playing shape, and he is a player with solid one-on-one moves who can get his shot from anywhere. Everything has to come together, and we still have to bring in a replacement for Bentil. Maccabi is also in a similar situation to us. However, our players are here, and we don’t have to deal with players staying in Europe.”

Regarding Ragland, Yannay added, “Joe Ragland is an amazing player. We’ll have to see how he can still be integrated into the team, as he hasn’t yet been able to do so effectively. But think about this team with a replacement for Bentil, Motley’s return, and Joe in. It will be an amazing team. At the end of the season, this will be the direction.”Patrick Beverley, who joined the Reds from the NBA, has been the centerpiece of Hapoel Tel Aviv’s global recognition.

“Patrick raised us to a place where we are being recognized, and everyone is aware of who we are and what we are doing. We have gotten a lot of leadership from him and so much more beyond marketing.”With European games still being held abroad due to the current conflict, Yannay expressed his hope for their return to Israel.

“It’s not an easy year, and I hope that we are heading toward a return of the international games in Israel. I believe that these games will be back here in Israel by January. This is the direction. I hope it will happen—it belongs to all of us, to the sports community.”

For Yannay, owning Hapoel Tel Aviv is about more than just competition; it’s about community and pride.

“The most fun for me is seeing the joy and pride that the team brings to the fans. The Hapoel community has been through a lot over the years, as this sport had been corrupted by one team, with Hapoel being the team that suffered the most.

This year, they feel differently, and it’s great fun. It is important to me that soldiers who leave Lebanon and Gaza can come to the games as well. By and large, I also think that the success of bringing players of this caliber to Israel inspires a lot of pride as we continue the process of building up this club.”