Birth Date:
30.04.1997
Seasons on Team:
2
Nationality:
United States of America
T.J. Leaf joined Maccabi in the summer of 2025. The Israeli PF/C was born in Tel Aviv while his father Brad played at guard for the yellow-and-blue.
Leaf is primarily a power forward, but can use his size to play center as well. He is a mobile and versatile big who was selected 18th in the 2017 NBA Draft. He logged 146 games in the association with Indiana and Portland, before spending a few years in the CBA. This past season he scored 22.1 points per game with the Nanjing Monkey Kings while adding 12.5 boards and 4.3 assists. As an Israeli, he represented the U18 national team in 2015 and is part of the men's roster for the upcoming FIBA EuroBasket.
T.J. was born in Tel Aviv on April 30th, 1997 to Karen and Brad Leaf. Brad played in Israel for 17 seasons, was named league MVP in 1990 and finished his career with three championships with Maccabi. In 1999 the family moved to San Diego, California, where T.J. grew to immense height and developed his basketball skills.
In 2015 he joined the Israeli U18 national team and was crowned the MVP of the European Championships Division B, after leading the blue-and-white to the finals with 16 PPG and 8.4 RPG. On that team he played with current Maccabi guard Tamir Blatt. Later on, T.J. played college ball for the UCLA Bruins, starring alongside Lonzo Ball with 16.3 PPG and 8.2 RPG in his only season. He declared for the Draft and was selected - just like his father - by the Pacers.
Leaf spent three seasons in Indianapolis and one season with the Blazers, and then decided to take his talents across the Pacific to China. He played in Guangzhou, Beijing and Nanjing, where he notched a whopping 33.5 PIR on average.
