Rumors

Eddy Curry, who played five seasons with the Knicks and won an NBA championship with the LeBron James-led Miami Heat in 2012, has been advocating for the release of 1-year-old Kfir Bibas, the Israeli boy who has spent the bulk of his life in Hamas captivity. Bibas was kidnapped along with his brother Ariel, 4, and their parents, Shiri and Yarden Bibas, by the terror group during the Oct. 7 attack.

New York Post

Marc Stein: Maccabi Ra'anana is an Israeli second division team and insisted on keeping its date to play the Nets tonight in Brooklyn mere days after Hamas terrorist attacks in Israel. It's the first of three Ra'anana games against NBA teams with stops in Cleveland and Minnesota next week.

Twitter

The Los Angeles Lakers star and Carter called the Hamas attack an act of “terrorism,” further describing it as “tragic and unacceptable.” LeBron and Carter went on to express their commitment to helping stop the hate around the world. “The devastation in Israel is tragic and unacceptable. The murder and violence against innocent people by Hamas is terrorism. The SpringHill Company family sends our deepest condolences to Israel and the Jewish community,” the statement read. “We pray for peace in the region and reiterate our continued commitment to fight hate in all its forms. We must work to ensure this tragedy does not spread even more hate, racism and antisemitism.”

Clutch Points

On the fourth day of a war in Israel, Hapoel Shlomo Tel Aviv released a bone-chilling statement. The club announced that two of the academy players - brothers Yiftach Kutz and Yonatan Kotz - were murdered during a terrorist attack on Saturday. Both Kotz brothers were slaughtered in their home in Kfar Aza - a settlement, or kibbutz, in the Israeli territory near the Gaza Strip of around 750 people - together with their father Aviv, their mother Livnat, and their sister Rotem. Hamas terrorists killed multiple families in their homes in Kfar Aza, with some people even decapitated. There is no official death toll, as Israeli soldiers are still searching homes in the area that might be booby-trapped with explosives, Reuters writes.

BasketNews

Brian Lewis: The #Nets preseason game against Maccabi Ra'anana is still expected to take place Thursday at Barclays Center. Despite Israel calling up 300,000 army reservists for its war with Hamas, as of now the exhibition hasn’t been cancelled or delayed. #NBA

Twitter

Jackson Frank, the Philadelphia 76ers beat writer for PhillyVoice, has been fired after criticizing the team’s statement in support of Israel. “We stand with the people of Israel and join them in mourning the hundreds of innocent lives lost to terrorism at the hands of Hamas. #StandWithIsrael,” the 76ers posted on X Sunday. Frank shared the post with his own commentary: “This post sucks! Solidarity with Palestine always.” He has since deleted his Twitter account.

OutKick

“Mr. Frank is no longer employed by PhillyVoice.com as of today,” PhillyVoice.com CEO Hal Donnelly told The New York Post in a statement. “We stand with everyone who is absolutely outraged by the senseless attacks in Israel, by the loss of innocent lives and violence against civilians.” Frank just joined the Sixers beat last month. More than 800 Israelis were killed and thousands more injured or reported missing after the terrorist organization Hamas launched a surprise attack on multiple fronts Saturday.

OutKick

Washington Wizards forward Deni Avdija is speaking out against the terrorist attack in his home country of Israel ... revealing he personally knew people who lost their lives. Avdija -- the only current NBA player born in Israel -- released a powerful statement on the situation ... saying even though he is thousands of miles away, his heart is home. "While I'm here playing ball, my thoughts are constantly pulled back to Israel," the former 9th overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft said Monday. "This past Saturday, terrorists from Hamas and Islamic Jihad unleashed devastation in 21 spots across Gaza."

TMZ.com

Due to the ongoing war between Hamas and Israel, FIBA Europe announced the suspension of the following games of the Israeli teams in both the FIBA Europe Cup (Bnei Herzliya, Ironi Ness Ziona, Hapoel Galil Elion) and FIBA EuroCup Women (Ramat Hasharon, Elitzur Landco Ramla) with this press release: “In view of the current security situation in Israel and following the recommendation of its security advisors, FIBA Europe has taken the decision to suspend all games involving Israeli teams in all competitions under its auspices until further notice. The decision affects immediately all upcoming home and away games of five Israeli teams in EuroCup Women and FIBA Europe Cup.

EuroHoops.net

NBACentral: “I woke up this morning with some disturbing news out of Israel that Hamas [are] kidnapping children, putting them in cages, killing women, killing the elderly. That’s some coward s**t. That’s cowardly. And for all y’all Black Live Matter [supporters] who ain’t saying nothing, [saying] ‘Let me figure out exactly what’s happening before saying anything’, f**k you,” - Amare Stoudemire (h/t @TalkBasket )

Twitter

"So I apologize if I'm not going to be focused on y'all's questions. It's just too much going on in the world for me to just be talking about basketball. I focus on this most of the time, 24/7, but it's just too much going on in this world not to address. It's just sad to see this s--- going on. It's not just in Palestine, not just in Israel. It's all over the world, and I feel it. I'm very compassionate to it -- to all races, all cultures and to see it, to see a lot of people being discriminated against, based on their religion, color of their skin, what they believe in. It's just sad." Israeli airstrikes on Gaza City flattened three buildings and killed at least 33 people Sunday, medics said, making it the deadliest single attack since heavy fighting broke out between Israel and the territory's militant Hamas rulers nearly a week ago.

ESPN

However, Israeli sports journalist Sharon Davidovitch had an interesting way at looking at the recent Israeli LeBron hate telling the Agence France-Presse: "LeBron James is now the most hated person in Israel. It's a little bit joking and a little bit true: These days I can only compare the Israeli hate for LeBron James to the hate for Hamas." If you didn't know, Hamas' only mission is the complete destruction of Israel. So yeah, LeBron is in that company now. Blatt stans have even taken to James' Instagram and Twitter account to voice their displeasure.

Complex

Via Agence France-Presse, sports journalist Sharon Davidovich described LeBron James as now the most hated man in Israel. “It’s a little bit joking and a little bit true: These days I can only compare the Israeli hate for LeBron James to the hate for Hamas,” said Davidovich. Yahoo says that one Israeli newspaper (no doubt the New York Post of Jerusalem) went with the headline “Goliath eliminates David” after Blatt was fired. LeBron’s Instagram messages are now being bombed with comments in Hebrew (apologies if any of those are NSFW)

The Big Lead

One of the contributions came from Sheldon Adelson, the American casino billionaire and deep-pocketed supporter of right-wing causes. Some commentators—including Dave Zirin, of the Nation, who wrote an open letter condemning the trip—seized on this detail, connecting the trip with previous efforts by Adelson to combat the Boycott, Divest and Sanctions movement, an international attempt to penalize Israel for perceived human-rights violations against Palestinians. The trip’s organizers are not shy about their own political leanings—during the last Gaza War, in 2014, Casspi tweeted, “600 missiles been fired from GAZA by Hamas in the last 4 days. NUMBERS DONT LIE. STOP LYING.”—but they bristle at the notion that the trip was part of an ideological program. According to Schottenstein, Adelson lent them a private jet to ease their travel, and also made a “small financial donation.” “Other than that,” he says, “there was no Sheldon Adelson agenda here. There was no political commentator on the trip trying to talk into these guys’ ears, telling them ‘x, y, z.’ None. Zero. Not one tiny bit.” (Adelson did not respond to a request for comment.)

The New Yorker