<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>Croatian center Nikola Vujcic (211-C-78, agency: Interperformances) won't wear yellow-blue jersey any more. Management of Maccabi Tel Aviv decided to part ways with one of their best players ever. At the club's official statement the team said that Vujcic was maybe the best player and the best person which ever played for Israeli giant. The team also thanked him for his services over the past couple of years. According to some rumors the main reason for Maccabi's decision is Vujcic's salary. Namely, he makes 1.6 million dollars per season what is unreasonable price for Maccabi at this moment. Maccabi Tel Aviv lost three finals the season. Euroleague final for sure is success for Maccabi but on the other hand defeat in the final of Israeli Premier league and National Cup are very disappointing for their fans. It was expected that Maccabi will make bigger changes for the next season so the first official 'victim' is Vujcic. Vujcic started basketball career in Split where he played more than 6 years. Later he spent one season in Adecco Asvel as a loaned player after what Maccabi returned him to Tel Aviv. Vujcic had fantastic season in Asvel winning French Pro A after 21 years what was a signal for people from Maccabi. Vujcic proved that the team made right decision when they signed him as he was one of the most important players on seasons 03/04 and 04/05 when Maccabi totally dominated in Euroleague. Interesting is that Vujcic is the first player who succeeded to make triple double in the best European club competition. It is not known yet what will be Vujcic's next destination but it is not a secret that AXA Barcelona showed interest for his service.</div> http://www.eurobasket.com/ISR/ISR.asp I'm no Maccabi fan, but I have no problem admitting that Vujcic is one of the best players ever to play in the Israeli league and probably in Europe as well. It's really too bad that injuries have turned him into a shell of his former self. Reports in Israel say that he's being coveted by Real Madrid, Tau Vitoria, CSKA Moscow, Panathinaikos, Dinamo Moscow and Barcelona, and there's even a small chance that he'll return to Maccabi if he agrees to take a large pay cut.
This isn't all that surprising, though I'll join everyone else in being sad to see him go. It'll be interesting to see who they sign to replace him...
