Sports
GBN Grad Jon Scheyer Talks NBA Dreams, Israel Team
Basketball star from Northbrook told the New York Times why he left his team in Israel last week.
grad and former Duke basketball star Jon Scheyer caught up with the New York Times last week, after he decided to leave the Maccabi Tel Aviv team he had been playing with in Israel.
“I’ve been told for a long time I need to come to Israel, and it’s great to be here,” Scheyer told the Times. “It’s been frustrating, too.”
After graduating from Duke in 2010, Scheyer signed on with the Miami Heat's summer league team. But in the second game of the season, he suffered a torn optic nerve in his eye. The injury was so severe that it required surgery and seven months of rehabilitation, according to the Times.
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Scheyer came back to play with the NBA's development league, and tried out unsuccessfully for the Los Angeles Clippers. Then last summer, while the NBA was locked out, he signed on with Maccabi for $250,000, according to the Times.
In Israel, however, Scheyer didn't get much playing time--and, he told the Times, he's still hoping to pursue an NBA career.
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"I’ve always proved my doubters wrong on the court," he said.
To find out more about Scheyer's experiences on and off the court in Israel, read the story in the New York Times.
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