Given Ofer Yannay’s ambition, many high-profile names have been linked to Hapoel Tel Aviv. One of them is Russell Westbrook, with reports suggesting the club was ready to offer a historic contract. “That’s 100% fake news. There were numbers mentioned — $50 million per year — which is crazy. I get that Hapoel Tel Aviv draws attention because we’re spending money. I counted 37 players who were linked with us. It’s good we’ll have three rosters, because when you have 37 players, it makes things easier (laughs). To be serious — it’s not true. There was no interest, and no one approached him.”