By Eurohoops Team/ info@eurohoops.net
Hapoel Tel Aviv guard Patrick Beverley revealed that he could be leaving Israel and the team since he has to deal with a family pressures due to also the fact that his fiancee is from Iran.
“I’m in Tel Aviv, Israel, right now,” Beverley, a former All-NBA Defensive Team member, said during the latest episode of The Pat Bev podcast with Rone. “Since I’ve been there, it’s been absolutely phenomenal the way I’m treated, the freedom I get, playing basketball, the way the Jewish Community has accepted me, and the way my team embraced me,” he said. “I’m almost like a spokesperson for Israeli sports. But a lot of people don’t understand that I have a fiancée who’s from Iran. Me being here is causing a lot of added stress from both families.”
“I ain’t gonna say she hit me with an ultimatum, but I got some decisions to make,” Beverley also mentioned. “When I say a lot of pressure, I mean a lot of pressure from both of our families. My kids, mum, her side. It’s just very, very complicated.”
“I’m 50-50 [if I’ll stay here]. This ain’t about the money. I’m rich as f–k. She’s richer than me. It’s not about money. It’s about who I want to make happy,” Beverley added. His fiancee Mandana Bolourchi is a famous influencer.
While there has been an ongoing conflict between Israel and Iran over the last four decades due to the latter’s support of Palestine and Lebanese paramilitary group Hezbollah, the relationship between the two countries became particularly hostile this year.
In April, Israel bombed an Iranian Embassy complex in Syria. and Iran launched missile attacks against Israel later that month. In October, Iran assaulted Israel with 200 ballistic missiles and Israeli responded with a series of strikes in various locations of Iran.
“She gave me a timeline, and I’m just saying that… We’re family people,” Beverley also said. “I think my decision has to be based on what’s best for my family at the time. We’ll see. I think about that very day. I gave my word to the club and my team.”
“It’s just a very tough and complicated situation for me, a very stocky situation. She’s like, ‘You can go play here, you can play in this team, you can go play in this place in Europe, you can go play in Real, you can go play in Paris if you want,’ but it’s tough for me.”
Hapoel Tel Aviv is currently 5-3 in EuroCup. The Israeli side was built to win the competition with a stacked roster and recently made a blockbuster move by hiring two-time EuroLeague champion Dimitri Itoudis as coach.
Beverley described Itoudis as the “Gregg Popovich of Europe”
“I’m in the middle. I’m trying to fulfill my promise of competing,” Beverley commented. “It’s like I’m choosing the love of my life and my first love, basketball. I’m left a lot of days drained. It just put a lot of added pressure on my relationship. A lot of added pressure, especially from her side. … It’s so f–ked up because, in the middle of the season, we get this f–ing phenomenal coach. Itoudis is a phenomenal coach. On the first day of practice, I was like, I’m running a wall for this guy. Absolute European legendary coach, which makes it even harder. He’s Gregg Popovich of Europe. When a legacy is in the building, you smell it. I want some of that.”