John DiBartolomeo has never been a headline star, but at Maccabi Tel Aviv he has often delivered more than flashier names. Coach Oded Kattash said after a derby win in November 2022 that “what John D. brings off the bench is truly exceptional, in the end what won the game was his heart.” Three and a half years later, Kattash could say the same as the captain again arrives at the right moment, pushing Maccabi toward a championship.
On Wednesday night at 8:50 p.m., Maccabi leads Hapoel Tel Aviv 2-0 in the final playoff series, one day after DiBartolomeo turned 35. He could lift a title for the seventh time in his career. Despite starting only five of 25 regular-season games, his value has been in his steadiness, inner calm and relentless energy, especially against red-clad rivals. Club sources say he never complains from the bench and always puts the team first, with one adding that he has “quiet energy” and can still make an opponent miserable even if he enters down 20 points.
DiBartolomeo told Yedioth Ahronoth and ynet in 2023 that he began at the University of Rochester in Division III, paid full tuition, and never expected basketball to become a career. “In high school I wasn’t that good, I was relatively small physically, I had no offers,” he said, adding that he was sorry his parents had to pay but grateful they supported him. He then climbed step by step, first in Spain with Palma Air Europa, where he helped earn promotion to the second division, then joined Maccabi Haifa in 2015 before signing with Maccabi Tel Aviv.
He has now been with Maccabi for nine seasons and became captain just seven months after signing, winning six championships since. This postseason has been especially important because Maccabi is operating with only eight players in the rotation and missing Tamir Blatt in the backcourt. DiBartolomeo has responded with 7.9 points, 2.5 rebounds, 1.2 steals and 2 assists in 19.8 regular-season minutes, then 8.6 points, 3.9 rebounds, 2.3 steals and 3 assists in 24.6 playoff minutes over seven games. In Game 1, the club called him the “X-factor” after 15 points, 3 rebounds and 2 assists in 25 minutes. In Game 2 he had 5 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists in 30 minutes, playing almost as much as the team’s main big men.
His future is still unresolved. His last contract, signed in 2024, runs for two years and is worth $1.4 million total. Maccabi had once assumed it would be his final deal because of his age, but his recent form suggests he may delay retirement. His camp expected an earlier offer in February, but that did not come. A formal approach came only recently and was below his expectations, while the delay drew interest from Hapoel Tel Aviv, Hapoel Jerusalem and clubs in Europe. Negotiations are still ongoing, and Maccabi remains optimistic he will stay.
