By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Hapoel Tel Aviv owner Ofer Yannay stated that Crvena Zvezda offered big man Johnathan Motley a sum of around $2.2 million to lure him away from the Israeli side.
“Here [at Hapoel] he has a contract of $1.5 million,” Yannay said to Sport Klub. “Zvezda offered him 2.1 or 2.2 million, something like that. We got that information from several sources, we know that.”
Zvezda sports director Milan Dozet has denied that the club has any connection with Motley. Yannay believes that Dozet said that because he was obligated to shut down reports that linked the player to the Serbian team.
“I heard the statement of their Sports Director that they aren’t interested in Motley. I think he said it purely for legal reasons.”
“If not, if they really take a step back and make that decision… if they start respecting me, then we can be friends again,” Yannay added. He had previously mentioned that if Zvezda makes a move for a Hapoel player, then he’ll make counter-offers to Red Star players for a lot more money.
According to Yannay, Motley’s side claimed that the player wanted to leave Israel because of the war, following the invasion of Lebanon.
“An agent approached me on Wednesday and said that Motley wanted to go I asked why and the answered ‘because of the war’,” Yannay said. “I said, “what about the war?’ The guy [Motley] likes to go out in Tel Aviv, there are so many girls here, he goes out every night, parties, enjoys himself and posts stuff with wines, restaurants, everything on social media. What about the war? There’s no war at the moment. If that’s a problem for him, he can stay in Belgrade.”
Motley signed with Hapoel last summer. He’s averaging 17.5 points, 6.5 rebounds and 2.8 assists in the EuroCup.