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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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Israeli Strike on Tehran Kills Bodyguard of Slain Hezbollah Chief

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi lays a wreath as he visits the burial site of former Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, on the outskirts of Beirut, Lebanon, June 3, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir
A member of Lebanese armed group Hezbollah was killed in an Israeli air strike on Tehran alongside a member of an Iran-aligned Iraqi armed group, a senior Lebanese security source told Reuters and the Iraqi group said on Saturday.
The source identified the Hezbollah member as Abu Ali Khalil, who had served as a bodyguard for Hezbollah’s slain chief Hassan Nasrallah. The source said Khalil had been on a religious pilgrimage to Iraq when he met up with a member of the Kataeb Sayyed Al-Shuhada group.
They traveled together to Tehran and were both killed in an Israeli strike there, along with Khalil’s son, the senior security source said. Hezbollah has not joined in Iran’s air strikes against Israel from Lebanon.
Kataeb Sayyed Al-Shuhada published a statement confirming that both the head of its security unit and Khalil had been killed in an Israeli strike.
Nasrallah was killed in an Israeli aerial attack on Beirut’s southern suburbs in September.
Israel and Iran have been trading strikes for nine consecutive days since Israel launched attacks on Iran, saying Tehran was on the verge of developing nuclear weapons. Iran has said it does not seek nuclear weapons.
The post Israeli Strike on Tehran Kills Bodyguard of Slain Hezbollah Chief first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Hamas Financial Officer and Commander Eliminated by IDF in the Gaza Strip

Israeli soldiers operate during a ground operation in the southern Gaza Strip, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, July 3, 2024. Photo: Ohad Zwigenberg/Pool via REUTERS
i24 News – The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), in cooperation with the General Security Service (Shin Bet), announced on Friday the killing of Ibrahim Abu Shamala, a senior financial official in Hamas’ military wing.
The operation took place on June 17th in the central Gaza Strip.
Abu Shamala held several key positions, including financial officer for Hamas’ military wing and assistant to Marwan Issa, the deputy commander of Hamas’ military wing until his elimination in March 2024.
He was responsible for managing all the financial resources of Hamas’ military wing in Gaza, overseeing the planning and execution of the group’s war budget. This involved handling and smuggling millions of dollars into the Gaza Strip to fund Hamas’ military operations.
The post Hamas Financial Officer and Commander Eliminated by IDF in the Gaza Strip first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Report: Wary of Assassination by Israel, Khamenei Names 3 Potential Successors

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei waves during a meeting in Tehran, Iran, May 20, 2025. Photo: Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via REUTERS
i24 News – Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei named three senior clerics as candidates to succeed him should he be killed, the New York Times reported on Saturday citing unnamed Iranian officials. It is understood the Ayatollah fears he could be assassinated in the coming days.
Khamenei reportedly mostly speaks with his commanders through a trusted aide now, suspending electronic communications.
Khamenei has designated three senior religious figures as candidates to replace him as well as choosing successors in the military chain of command in the likely event that additional senior officials be eliminated.
Earlier on Saturday Israel confirmed the elimination of Saeed Izadi and Bhanam Shahriari.
Shahriari, head of Iran’s Quds Force Weapons Transfer Unit, responsible for arming Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis, was killed in an Israeli airstrike over 1,000 km from Israel in western Iran.
The post Report: Wary of Assassination by Israel, Khamenei Names 3 Potential Successors first appeared on Algemeiner.com.