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Israeli star Deni Avdija is poised for a big year as new NBA season begins
(JTA) — As the NBA’s only Israeli player, Deni Avdija has had a lot on his mind as his home country navigates a war with Hamas.
But as the new NBA season tips off on Tuesday, the 22-year-old is poised for his most impressive year yet on the court.
On Monday, Avdija and the Washington Wizards agreed to a four-year, $55 million contract extension that will keep him in D.C. through the 2027-2028 season.
“Deni has many of the characteristics that we value in the players who represent our organization,” said Wizards general manager Will Dawkins. “He has a team-first mentality, works hard on his craft, competes with toughness and is committed to improving the community.”
Avdija, who grew up on Kibbutz Beit Zera in northern Israel, enjoyed his best season last year, averaging 9.2 points, 6.4 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 0.9 steals in 76 games. He started 40 games for Washington, equalling his starts from his first two seasons combined.
The former No. 9 draft pick is still working on establishing a consistent offensive approach, but his defense has earned applause. Avdija also racked up double-digit rebounds 15 times last season, including a career-high of 20 during a January game against the Chicago Bulls.
“It’s rare to find young players who embrace the defensive end as enthusiastically as Avdija has,” Wizards reporter Josh Robbins wrote in The Athletic.
Avdija has also become one of the more outspoken Jewish players in all of sports on issues relating to Israel and antisemitism.
During a flare-up in violence in Israel last year, Avdija wrote “Am Yisrael Chai” (“the Jewish people live”) and drew Stars of David on his sneakers. The year before that, Avdija called attention to Holocaust remembrance day on his shoes.
Avdija has also shared Hanukkah traditions with his teammates, spoken at the team’s Jewish Heritage Night and attempted to grow the NBA’s popularity in Israel.
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Beyond Avdija, there are a few other Jewish players and storylines to watch in the 2023-2024 NBA season.
Two new faces have joined the Jewish basketball scene — one who is new to the NBA and one who is new to Judaism.
Sacramento Kings big man Domantas Sabonis is in the process of converting to Judaism. Sabonis, 27, has been studying with Los Angeles rabbi Erez Sherman and has been involved with the local chapter of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement in Sacramento.
Rabbi Mendy Cohen is dwarfed by 7-foot-1 Kings center Domantas Sabonis, who attended Chabad of Sacramento’s Purim party on March 7, 2023. (Courtesy of Chabad of Sacramento)
“He loves [Judaism] and really wants to be a part of it,” Sabonis’ wife Shashana Sabonis (née Rosen) said earlier this year. Shashana grew up in Los Angeles, where she went to Jewish day schools. The couple was married by a Reform rabbi in August 2021.
Sabonis would immediately become the best Jewish player in the NBA. He’s a three-time All-Star who led the league with 12.3 rebounds per game last season while averaging 19.1 points.
Amari Bailey, whose Jewish heritage comes from his mother, was drafted 41st overall by the Charlotte Hornets in the NBA Draft this past summer.
A former five-star recruit who played at Sierra Canyon High School — the prestigious private school where LeBron James sent his son to play basketball — Bailey declared for the draft after a stellar freshman season at the University of California Los Angeles, where he was named to the Pac-12’s All-Freshman team.
The 19-year-old, who was born in New Orleans and grew up in Chicago, personally identifies as Jewish, his agent Bernie Lee confirmed to the Forward without providing more detail.
Bailey is expected to spend a sizable chunk of his rookie season with Charlotte’s G-League affiliate, the Greensboro Swarm.
Speaking of the G League — the equivalent of the NBA’s minor league — Ryan Turell, who is seeking to become the first Orthodox Jew to play in the NBA, is expected to spend his season with the Motor City Cruise, the G League affiliate of the Detroit Pistons.
Ryan Turell signs a kippah after a game in Detroit. (Andrew Lapin)
Turell, 24, was drafted by the Cruise before last season, where he played in 31 games and averaged 4 points and 1.7 rebounds. Jewish fans turned out in full force to support Turell, who wears a kippah when he plays. He was also recently featured in an Amazon Prime documentary about G League players.
Lastly, former University of Maryland star Abby Meyers is currently playing for the London Lions of the Women’s British Basketball League, the top tier of British women’s basketball. Meyers had been selected by the Dallas Wings in the first round of the WNBA Draft in April but was quickly cut from the team. She signed a few short-term contracts with the Washington Mystics, ultimately appearing in nine games before being waived in August.
Meyers, who won a gold medal at the 2022 Maccabiah Games in Israel, told JTA earlier this year that she had received support from Maryland’s Jewish community.
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Israel to Send Delegation to Qatar for Gaza Ceasefire Talks
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a news conference in Jerusalem, Sept. 2, 2024. Photo: Ohad Zwigenberg/Pool via REUTERS
Israel has decided to send a delegation to Qatar for talks on a possible Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal, an Israeli official said, reviving hopes of a breakthrough in negotiations to end the almost 21-month war.
Palestinian group Hamas said on Friday it had responded to a US-backed Gaza ceasefire proposal in a “positive spirit,” a few days after US President Donald Trump said Israel had agreed “to the necessary conditions to finalize” a 60-day truce.
The Israeli negotiation delegation will fly to Qatar on Sunday, the Israeli official, who declined to be named due to the sensitivity of the matter, told Reuters.
But in a sign of the potential challenges still facing the two sides, a Palestinian official from a militant group allied with Hamas said concerns remained over humanitarian aid, passage through the Rafah crossing in southern Israel to Egypt and clarity over a timetable for Israeli troop withdrawals.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is due to meet Trump in Washington on Monday, has yet to comment on Trump’s announcement, and in their public statements Hamas and Israel remain far apart.
Netanyahu has repeatedly said Hamas must be disarmed, a position the terrorist group, which is thought to be holding 20 living hostages, has so far refused to discuss.
Israeli media said on Friday that Israel had received and was reviewing Hamas’ response to the ceasefire proposal.
The post Israel to Send Delegation to Qatar for Gaza Ceasefire Talks first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Tucker Carlson Says to Air Interview with President of Iran
Tucker Carlson speaks on July 18, 2024 during the final day of the Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Photo: Jasper Colt-USA TODAY via Reuters Connect
US conservative talk show host Tucker Carlson said in an online post on Saturday that he had conducted an interview with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, which would air in the next day or two.
Carlson said the interview was conducted remotely through a translator, and would be published as soon as it was edited, which “should be in a day or two.”
Carlson said he had stuck to simple questions in the interview, such as, “What is your goal? Do you seek war with the United States? Do you seek war with Israel?”
“There are all kinds of questions that I didn’t ask the president of Iran, particularly questions to which I knew I could get an not get an honest answer, such as, ‘was your nuclear program totally disabled by the bombing campaign by the US government a week and a half ago?’” he said.
Carlson also said he had made a third request in the past several months to interview Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who will be visiting Washington next week for talks with US President Donald Trump.
Trump said on Friday he would discuss Iran with Netanyahu at the White House on Monday.
Trump said he believed Tehran’s nuclear program had been set back permanently by recent US strikes that followed Israel’s attacks on the country last month, although Iran could restart it at a different location.
Trump also said Iran had not agreed to inspections of its nuclear program or to give up enriching uranium. He said he would not allow Tehran to resume its nuclear program, adding that Iran did want to meet with him.
Pezeshkian said last month Iran does not intend to develop nuclear weapons but will pursue its right to nuclear energy and research.
The post Tucker Carlson Says to Air Interview with President of Iran first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Hostage Families Reject Partial Gaza Seal, Demand Release of All Hostages
Demonstrators hold signs and pictures of hostages, as relatives and supporters of Israeli hostages kidnapped during the Oct. 7, 2023 attack by Hamas protest demanding the release of all hostages in Tel Aviv, Israel, Feb. 13, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Itai Ron
i24 News – As Israeli leaders weigh the contours of a possible partial ceasefire deal with Hamas, the families of the 50 hostages still held in Gaza issued an impassioned public statement this weekend, condemning any agreement that would return only some of the abductees.
In a powerful message released Saturday, the Families Forum for the Return of Hostages denounced what they call the “beating system” and “cruel selection process,” which, they say, has left families trapped in unbearable uncertainty for 638 days—not knowing whether to hope for reunion or prepare for mourning.
The group warned that a phased or selective deal—rumored to be under discussion—would deepen their suffering and perpetuate injustice. Among the 50 hostages, 22 are believed to be alive, and 28 are presumed dead.
“Every family deserves answers and closure,” the Forum said. “Whether it is a return to embrace or a grave to mourn over—each is sacred.”
They accused the Israeli government of allowing political considerations to prevent a full agreement that could have brought all hostages—living and fallen—home long ago. “It is forbidden to conform to the dictates of Schindler-style lists,” the statement read, invoking a painful historical parallel.
“All of the abductees could have returned for rehabilitation or burial months ago, had the government chosen to act with courage.”
The call for a comprehensive deal comes just as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu prepares for high-stakes talks in Washington and as indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas are expected to resume in Doha within the next 24 hours, according to regional media reports.
Hamas, for its part, issued a statement Friday confirming its readiness to begin immediate negotiations on the implementation of a ceasefire and hostage release framework.
The Forum emphasized that every day in captivity poses a mortal risk to the living hostages, and for the deceased, a danger of being lost forever. “The horror of selection does not spare any of us,” the statement said. “Enough with the separation and categories that deepen the pain of the families.”
In a planned public address near Begin Gate in Tel Aviv, families are gathering Saturday evening to demand that the Israeli government accept a full-release deal—what they describe as the only “moral and Zionist” path forward.
“We will return. We will avenge,” the Forum concluded. “This is the time to complete the mission.”
As of now, the Israeli government has not formally responded to Hamas’s latest statement.
The post Hostage Families Reject Partial Gaza Seal, Demand Release of All Hostages first appeared on Algemeiner.com.