Avdija Enjoying Breakout Season with Portland

Deni Avdija first became a household name among Jewish sports fans two years ago in the wake of the Oct. 7 attacks when, as a member of the Washington Wizards, he was engaging with fans across NBA arenas in postgame renditions of the Israel national anthem, “Hatikvah.” Since then, the 24-year-old native of Kibbutz Beit Zera in northern Israel has become a household name among all sports fans by rocketing up the ranks of NBA scoring leaders.

Now in his second year with the Portland Trail Blazers, Avdija, who started playing for Maccabi Tel Aviv when he was 16, is having a breakout NBA season, averaging over 26 points and seven rebounds per game. Though the Blazers, who haven’t been a serious title contender since falling to the Michael Jordan/Scottie Pippen Chicago Bulls in the 1992 NBA Finals, are well below .500, their unquestioned best player is the clear favorite to be the NBA’s Most Improved Player at season’s end. Should Avdija participate in February’s NBA All-Star Game at the new Intuit Dome in Inglewood, Calif., he would not only represent the Blazers, but also Israel, as the first-ever Israeli NBA All-Star.

Following a solid start to his NBA career with Washington, Avdija took off last spring for Portland and has continued scoring at a prolific rate in his second year in the Pacific Northwest. The season’s nearly one-third of the way through and Avdija’s points-per-game average is higher than those of perennial All-Stars Kevin Durant, Devin Booker, and Karl-Anthony Towns. He has scored more than 30 points seven times, already has two triple-doubles, and has bumped his 3-point shooting percentage up to a respectable 37 percent.

The sudden ascension to NBA stardom has translated to Israeli basketball history: last Friday night, Avdija etched his place as Israel’s all-time NBA scoring king by pouring in 35 against the Detroit Pistons to eclipse countryman and former Sacramento Kings forward Omri Casspi’s career tally of 4,642 points.

Going into his sixth NBA season, no one, including Avdija, saw him blossoming into Portland’s primary ball-handler, No.1 scoring threat, and lockdown perimeter defensive stopper before the calendar flipped to 2026.

“My role on this team is to continue where I left off [last season] being vocal with everyone, be a leader, help everybody be in the best position possible, and maximize the team potential,” Avdija commented during his team’s media day earlier this autumn. “Just compete, do what I do, be aggressive, set the tone defensively, offensively.

“I do want to add a lot of stuff to my game, but I’m doing it with a lot of patience. But I think the next step for me is to take care of the ball a little bit better, control the game a little bit better, slow down sometimes when I need to. Other than that, I think I’m in a good path.”

In blazing his own path for a Portland team that has experienced great turmoil in the early going — erstwhile head coach Chauncey Billups was indicted on federal charges of money laundering and wire fraud conspiracy and swiftly replaced with Tiago Splitter — Avdija has carved out a league-wide reputation for fearlessly driving to the rim on fast breaks and absorbing bruising fouls. In establishing himself as a well-rounded offensive player who’s now more of a threat from behind the arc, Avdija is constantly being double and even triple teamed while on the other end of the floor is often tasked with the most taxing defensive assignments. Naturally, he’s also never been on the court for so long without a breather on a night-to-night basis.

“When I play, I do get fatigued because I’m trying so much and doing 100 percent on the floor,” Avdija acknowledged in his press conference, some of which was conducted in Hebrew, following Portland’s 123-115 loss to the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder on Nov. 30. “I feel like as a team, that’s our identity. I’m a little fatigued sometimes, but sometimes it’s just in your head. You’ve got to keep going. You’ve got to keep making the right plays. Nobody cares that you’re a little tired

“Now coming here and really finding my groove, I’m just having fun and I’m trying to do the best I can to make the right decisions even if I get double teamed or triple teamed. It definitely gives you a little boost of confidence that you hurt teams.”

Avdija and the Blazers make their only trip of the season to State Farm Arena on the evening of Sunday, March 1. By then, fans should know whether the Hawks are bound for postseason play. They will definitely know if this trailblazing Israeli basketball player just made NBA All-Star Game history.