For players like LeBron James or Danny Green, their journey to Cleveland consisted of being drafted by the Cavaliers and reporting to Camp as a rookie.

And for others – like two-guard Anthony Parker – the journey to joining the Wine and Gold spans several NBA cities, four countries and two continents. In between stops in the Association, Parker spent six years overseas, including five with Euroleague’s perennial powerhouse – Maccabi Tel Aviv.

While playing in Israel, the Illinois native won five Israeli Super League national championships, five Israeli National Cups, two Euroleague titles, one Suproleague title, and was named the Euroleague’s Most Valuable Player in consecutive years. And he and his teammates did all this in the midst of a massive holy war.

With Maccabi in 2006, Parker made news back in the States when he sank a jumper with 0.8 seconds to play to give his squad a thrilling 105-103 victory over his future club – the Toronto Raptors – during a preseason game at the Air Canada Centre. It was the first time Maccabi had topped an NBA team in 21 years; the first time any Euroleague team did so in the past 17 years.

One year later, Parker found himself suiting up for the Raptors. And after two seasons north of the border, the 34-year-old sharpshooter signed a free agent deal with the Wine and Gold.

As he prepares for his first Training Camp in Cleveland, Anthony Parker took a moment to chat with cavs.com about the adjustment to overseas basketball, doing so in the middle of a war zone, and his return to North America six years later …

How bad was the culture shock, as a 24-year-old playing, living in Europe?
Anthony Parker: On the court, it was adjusting to the rules, because they’re different than the NBA’s. It was definitely different.

And in Israel, most everything’s written in Hebrew. Sometimes, elsewhere in Europe, it’s Italian or Spanish and you can make sense of some of the letters and such. But Hebrew’s totally different. So, sometimes you’re not exactly sure: ‘Is this a restaurant or a grocery store or a post office? What is it?’ (Laughs)

So, it was tough at first to get adjusted. But it’s so Americanized and most people speak English. So it made it that much easier to adjust.

What was the process like for Maccabi to attract you to Tel Aviv?
Parker: Honestly … God brought me to the Holy Land.

I had gotten injured in Summer League; I didn’t have a team. So overseas became an option. And it just so happened that one of the scouts for Orlando had a relationship with the people at Maccabi, and they thought that I would make a good fit. And one of the icons in Israel basketball – Doron Sheffer – had just retired. And so that left an opening at my position.

So we sent some tape over there and talked with some coaches – and it was a done deal. I had some friends who played over there and they gave me some background about Maccabi. (I didn’t know, at the time, anything about overseas basketball.) And I found out they were one of the top teams.

You hear horror stories – and that was in my head. But they said that this was one of the top professional organizations – from an organizational standpoint – they were coming off a second-place finish in the European Championships. It was an extremely competitive team and everything that I had heard was positive.

Talk about the social-political aspect of playing in Tel Aviv? You were exposed to the violence right away. What was that like, living with that threat while trying to focus on basketball?
Parker: That was an interesting story, because two weeks after we got there the whole second Intifada started. Ariel Sharon went to the Temple Mount and basically the whole situation blew up. And the conflict was essentially 45 minutes from our doorstep.

But when you’re in Israel and you’re in the country, you don’t feel it. People are going to the mall, people are going out to eat. Kids are going to school. Life is normal. But you know that 45 minutes away, there’s a war going on.

So my family was going crazy. ‘What’s it like over there?’ ‘When are you coming home?’ And honestly, it’s scary, because we know what’s going on, but we don’t really feel it. And it was funny because my teammates – even the American ones – were telling me, ‘You’ll develop a thick skin to it.’ And I thought, ‘No way! How do you get used to bombings and things like that?!’ But by my fourth or fifth year, I found myself telling the new guys, ‘This is nothing. You guys have nothing to worry about.’

Did this make you immerse yourself more into the regional politics?
Parker: I definitely followed politics a lot closer. Not just in Israel, but all over the world. And it was an interesting time. You had 9/11. You had the war in Iraq following that. And it was really just an interesting time to be an American abroad. (Especially in Israel.)

How is Maccabi Tel Aviv different – or maybe, superior – to other Euroleague teams?
Parker: I think Maccabi’s been so competitive for so long because, for starters, they are by far the No. 1 team in Israel and they do that through their organization. They make it a lot easier, where you just have to focus on basketball. When you arrive at your apartment, your refrigerator is stocked with food. It’s those little things. If you need something for your house, they have it for you by the end of practice.

It’s all those things that contradict what you normally hear about European basketball. And so it puts you in a position where you’re thinking, ‘I don’t want to leave. I want to play for this organization.’ The fans are, by far, the best fans.

And add to that, they get most of the best Israeli players on their team. And they put great European and American players around them. And I think anyone that has any knowledge of basketball in Europe knows about them and they would love to play for them. (Even to the point of taking pay cuts to do so.)

But once we got over there – after not playing for three years in the NBA, where I had sat the bench – to be part of that. We won the European Championship my first year (and the first time for Tel-Aviv in 20 years). They filled the streets in Paris. We had 10,000 fans come all the way to Paris from Israel. When we came back, we have this huge celebration and it seemed like the whole city was there. And the country just stops when the game is on.

So just to be a part of that, I was like: ‘You know, the point right now is to provide for my family.’ Athletes have a small window of opportunity. It’s a sacrifice being away from your family and friends. But I thought I could do this.

So getting back to the NBA was not a priority. If it happened, I would definitely take a look at it. But to the point where, if I was going to come back to the same situation I was in before – not playing – even if I had a chance to come back, it didn’t interest me.

How big was it – for Maccabi, for international hoops and for you – to hit that shot that beat the Raptors in the 2007 preseason?
Parker: Honestly, in the grand scheme of things, it was a great accomplishment for Maccabi and it was great to be a part of. It was great to be in an NBA arena, it was great to play against an NBA team again. It was exciting.

Playing for Maccabi, most teams are really excited to be playing us. We weren’t as motivated to play them. So it was great to come in excited – to play this NBA team and show them what we’ve got. And it was preseason, so they were probably like, ‘Whatever.’

It was a great win for us. It kind of put our team on the map. But after the game we went back and went about our business. Even at the time, I said that Toronto was 10 or 12 points better than us. But we made the right plays at the right time.

Did that shot or that win affect you going (specifically) to the Raptors?
Parker: The GM – Brian Colangelo – was not there at the time. He saw the video. So all I’ll say is: It didn’t hurt. (Laughs.) I’m not going to say he brought me to Toronto just because of that, but the following year, we played Maccabi again and the joke was they brought me over here just to beat Maccabi for what we’d done the year before.

Was it difficult to return to the NBA (or North America for that matter)? Was there an adjustment period to NBA basketball when you returned?
Parker: It’s a huge adjustment. It was a huge adjustment for me going overseas. And it was a huge adjustment for me coming back. The rules, the style of play, the defense. Even the court. And I think it was a good three months until I made the adjustment successfully.

And now that you’re back, and having spent two years with the Raptors, how excited are you to join the Cavaliers?
Parker: It’s an exciting time to be a Cavalier. Everyone knows what the expectations are. But it’s exciting to be a part of that, and to have that opportunity.

Three years ago, I was overseas, watching this stuff on TV. So to have the opportunity – at my age and at this point in my career – it’s something that you have to seize. I’m extremely excited. I don’t even know if ‘excited’ is the word. Elated? Whatever the word you’d like to use to describe it, this is an incredible opportunity to be here in Cleveland.

****all credit goes to cavs.com****