‘I Faced Serious Consequences From Certain People at Hapoel Jerusalem’

“I faced serious consequences from certain people at Hapoel Jerusalem.” Former Reds center and Maccabi Tel Aviv big man Zach Hankins: “It’s ridiculous, they don’t treat their players the right way.” Sport 5 published: 10.06.26, 21:00 Photo: Sport 5

Maccabi Tel Aviv hopes to take a 0-2 lead tonight, Wednesday, in its playoff semifinal series against Hapoel Holon, and ahead of the game, the yellow team’s center Zach Hankins gave a particularly candid interview to the sports channel.

“We feel good, we understood what needs to be done. I think we’re ready, the team got closer during the confrontation with Iran,” Hankins said. “What happened before the first game in the series? We’re professionals, we weren’t able to sleep beforehand. It was dangerous to let us play. Israelis can adapt, they have character, but we’re not used to things like that. We could have gotten injured after a night without sleep. We played in very difficult situations this year.”

The last time you played in Israel, at Hapoel Jerusalem, there was an attack from Iran in April 2024 and you left. What made you stay in the country this time? “You learn to live like that, like the people in Israel. I learned how to deal with this situation. I also knew what I was getting into this time. I dealt with some serious consequences from certain people in Jerusalem, it’s just ridiculous. I think they don’t treat their players the right way. When I came back, I knew where I was going and what I needed to do.”

Later, Hankins spoke about Lonnie Walker’s situation: “We support each other. Everyone needs to do what they need to do. We have nothing against him, we’re happy he’s here and with us. That we’re here together as a team. The atmosphere here is great, it’s going to be a loud game.”

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