"Nate Huffman"

Huffman fought back and sued the organization, taking the case to court. In February 2004, the court ruled in favor of the athlete, forcing the Raptors to pay the remainder of his contract in full. Subsequent events showed that Nate was probably not entirely blameless, since almost simultaneously with the court's decision, he announced his retirement from basketball at the young age of 29. However, he remained close to the sport, founding a kids' basketball camp alongside his former Maccabi teammate, Romanian center Constantin Popa.

In September 2014, Huffman announced that he had been diagnosed with a very aggressive form of bladder cancer, with doctors giving him less than 12 months to live.

By Antreas Tsemperlidis

     Maccabi never forgot him, and how could they, since he was the primary reason the "People's Team" returned to the top of Europe—even during that divided season—after twenty years.

In 2001, Nate Huffmanwas the best center on the Old Continent and, as Basket News magazine declared him, the top American playing outside the NBA.

This was massive progress for a player who, just three years earlier, was completely overlooked by GMs, making a living with Spanish club Fuenlabrada. That is where Maccabi "snatched" him -as rumor has it that before heading to Israel, Huffman was offered to a Greek team for $80,000 and was rejected with high praise- striking absolute gold.

With the Israelis, he greatly improved his game, won every single title available, and later returned to his homeland to live the dream and play in the NBA. The Raptors were the ones who gave him his shot and invested in him, but the honeymoon phase between the two sides ended very quickly. After making just seven appearances for the Canadians, his contract was terminated by the team in January 2003, accusing the player of concealing a serious knee injury.

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