Fresh off Maccabi Tel Aviv’s 58th championship, center Roman Sorkin spoke on Sports 5’s “5 Ba’Air” about the decisive Game 4 win, his shooting, his contract, and his NBA ambitions. Maccabi clinched the title two days earlier after Sorkin endured an uneven night, similar to Game 3, before hitting a huge clutch three-pointer with about 30 seconds left that sealed the victory and avoided a Game 5.
Sorkin said the shot came instinctively. “It was on autopilot. I didn’t think too much. It’s basketball, you want to win and I had an open look. I just threw it,” he said, adding that he had missed a momentum three a few minutes earlier and felt he had to reset mentally in the second half. He said the team “very much wanted to win and did not want a Game 5,” and that belief in his shooting and an open look were enough to take the shot.
He also discussed the changing role of big men in modern basketball, saying centers now have to shoot rather than treat it as a bonus skill. Sorkin said one poor three-point season in Haifa created a label around him, even though he came to college as a shooter. He recalled being told at Oregon that without a shot he was only Division 3 level, and said that in his first season back in Maccabi he had few minutes, shot about 70% from the field, and had to maximize every possession. As his role stabilized, he said, he gained confidence and room to make mistakes.
On money, Sorkin said he hopes people see him as underpaid because it would mean he is playing well. “I’d always be happy to earn more,” he said, but added that his current salary is already significant and came after he rose from a humble background. He said he wants to stay hungry and keep improving. He also praised his long-running partnership with Tamir Blatt, saying they have played together since the youngest youth levels and he hopes Blatt stays with him.
Asked about NBA interest, including past contact with the New York Knicks, Sorkin said the timing was too late and the club could not release him in September. He said he talks with close friend Deni Avdija, wants the NBA badly, and believes he can play there if he were free to move. “If I were a free agent without a team, I probably could go to the NBA,” he said. “I can play there, I can be at that level.”
