Maccabi FOX Tel Aviv brought Neven Spahija back to the EuroLeague as the team’s new head coach for the next two seasons
Spahija (54) is returning to the helm of Maccabi, in his last term with Maccabi (2006/07) he led the club to the Euroleague playoffs and won the domestic championship.
Neven is a gentleman and a great basketball mind with tremendous knowledge, and a mentor for both players and the staff. Spahija is familiar with the system and the
organization of the club and is returning with more experience and as a better coach, since he left Maccabi, he accumulated a decade of experience in both the EuroLeague and the NBA. He will be presented in a press conference on Sunday.In his 30 year résumé as a head coach and as
assistant coach in the highest levels he has won multiple championships in six different countries: Spain, Turkey, Lithuania, Croatia, Slovenia and Israel. He also won the Eurocup with Valencia (2010), led Tau Vitoria (Baskonia) to the EuroLeague F4 in 2008. Since he left Maccabi in 2007 he coached in the strongest domestic league in Europe (Spain) where he won the Liga Endesa championship with Baskonia, Valencia (won the Eurocup), in Turkey he won the championship and the domestic cup with Fenerbache, and the Croatian Cibona.He spent the last three years with the Atlanta Hawks as an assistant coach for Mike Budenholzer who was 17 years with the legendary Greg Popovich’s coaching staff, with whom he won 4 NBA championships.
Budenholzer gave Spahija who he appreciates his blessing to rejoin Maccabi as the head coach, together they made it to the 2015 East Conference finals with Mike being selected as the coach of the year in the NBA.
