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The Jewish Sport Report: Orthodox NBA prospect Ryan Turell’s New York homecoming
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Happy Friday, sports fans!
The NBA trade deadline is Feb. 9, which means the deals will start rolling any minute.
The Washington Wizards made a significant move this week, trading forward Rui Hachimura to the Los Angeles Lakers on Monday. Team president Tommy Sheppard said getting Deni Avdija more playing time was a key factor in the move.
“When we really looked at what we needed was to get Deni more responsibility, more opportunity to play,” Sheppard said.
How did the NBA’s lone Israeli player respond? He dropped 15 points on Tuesday.
Ryan Turell’s New York homecoming
Ryan Turell will play his first NBA G League game in New York Feb. 4. (Courtesy Motor City Cruise/Courtesy Klipped)
When the Motor City Cruise take the court against the Long Island Nets in an NBA G League matchup in New York next weekend, Los Angeles native Ryan Turell will be cheered on more than the typical road team’s bench player.
That’s because the Feb. 4 matchup will be the former Yeshiva University star’s first game back in New York, and Y.U. fans plan to show up in full-force.
“I don’t think people realize, there’s so many Y.U. fans that have watched Ryan play for four years at Y.U., and now they’re gonna have a chance to see him in a G League uniform in New York,” said Simmy Cohen, a Y.U. superfan who plans to attend the game.
The game was originally scheduled for 11 a.m., in the middle of Shabbat.
“We just told the Nets, hey, by the way, you have Ryan Turell, it’s his return to New York, a lot of Jews from Long Island and the surrounding area would love to attend, if you made the game after sundown,” said Brad Turell, Ryan’s father.
Within 24 hours, the game was moved to 7 p.m.
Read more about Turell’s highly-anticipated return to New York right here.
Halftime report
WHAM! Brooklyn Nets fans are likely familiar with Bruce Reznick, the octogenarian superfan who goes by “Mr. Whammy” and taunts opposing players with his signature hand gestures. Reznick, who turns 87 on Wednesday, may be onto something — opposing teams have a lower foul shot percentage in Brooklyn than against other teams.
AND THE NOMINEES ARE… The nominees for the 2023 Hobey Baker award for best collegiate men’s ice hockey player have been announced, and Devon Levi, Luke Hughes and Yaniv Perets are all candidates. Voting is now open; the ten finalists will be announced in March, and the winner in April.
BRAD NEWS. Former MLB skipper and current Team Israel coach Brad Ausmus was reportedly a finalist for the general manager opening with the defending champion Houston Astros. But he lost out to Atlanta Braves scouting executive Dana Brown.
MAY HER MEMORY BE A BLESSING. This week we are remembering Rebecca Lorch, a champion strongwoman who won 2020’s America’s Strongest Woman competition in her weight class. While her family celebrated the first night of Hanukkah on Dec. 18, Lorch took her own life. She was 32.
In the presence of greatness
Left to right: Justin Shafritz, Bobby Eilers, Shaul Ladany and Stephanie Dahan (Courtesy Maccabi USA)
More than 350 Jewish athletes from around the world gathered in Germany earlier this month for the first Maccabi Winter Games since 1936. Yes, you read all of those facts correctly.
Maccabi USA sent around 30 competitors, who took home three gold, six silver, and nine bronze medals. But for 18-year-old skier Bobby Eilers, one of the best parts of the experience happened off the slopes. Shaul Ladany, who survived both the Holocaust and the 1972 Munich Olympics hostage massacre, visited the games to speak with the athletes and share his experience.
“Listening to Ladany speak was one of the highlights of the games,” Eilers said, according to Maccabi USA. “If we didn’t compete at all I would have been satisfied just hearing such an incredible story of survival.”
Today is International Holocaust Remembrance Day — learn more about Ladany’s incredible story here.
Jews in sports to watch this weekend
IN HOCKEY…
Tonight at 8:30 p.m. ET, Jack Hughes and the New Jersey Devils take on the Dallas Stars. Check out this insane pass Hughes made — from his knees — to set up a game-winning overtime goal earlier this week. Zach Hyman and the Edmonton Oilers host the Chicago Blackhawks Saturday at 10 p.m. ET. Hyman was honored by the NHL for his stellar nine-point performance last week.
IN BASKETBALL…
Ryan Turell and the Cruise are in Georgia this weekend to take on the College Park Skyhawks tonight at 7 p.m. ET and 3 p.m. on Sunday. Deni Avdija and the Wizards face the New Orleans Pelicans Saturday at 8 p.m. ET.
IN GOLF…
Max Homa is in San Diego this weekend for the Farmers Insurance Open. Homa began the year by tying for third place at the Tournament of Champions. He is currently ranked No. 16 in the PGA Tour (but definitely No. 1 in humor).
Jewish teammates FTW
Team Israel outfielder Kevin Pillar has signed a minor league deal with the Atlanta Braves. If he makes the big league club, Pillar will be teammates with Jewish ace Max Fried.
Beyond excited to be joining the @Braves can’t wait to join such a historic franchise and help these guys get back on top!
— Kevin Pillar (@KPILLAR4) January 20, 2023
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The post The Jewish Sport Report: Orthodox NBA prospect Ryan Turell’s New York homecoming appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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Two Soldiers Killed by Terror Operatives in IDF-Controlled Southern Gaza’s Rafah City, Violating Ceasefire
Yaniv Kula (left), and Itay Yavetz (right). Photo: IDF
i24 News – Two IDF soldiers were killed in Sunday morning’s attack by Palestinian terror operatives in southern Gaza’s Rafah, within the IDF-controlled Yellow Line.
The fallen soldiers are named Maj. Yaniv Kula, 26 (left), and Staff Sgt. Itay Yavetz, 21 (right).
Both served in the Nahal Brigade’s 932nd Battalion and are from the central Israeli city of Modiin.
According to an initial IDF investigation, a cell of terror operatives emerged from a tunnel in the area and fired RPGs at an excavation vehicle, killing the two soldiers.
In response to the attack, the Israeli Air Force and ground troops immediately carried out strikes in the area. Later, the IDF carried out a wave of airstrikes in southern Gaza, including against a tunnel system previously used by Hamas to hold hostages.
The IDF said, following Hamas ceasefire violations, it struck dozens of Hamas targets over the past few hours with over 120 munitions. Targets included six kilometers of underground terrorist infrastructure, firing posts and weapons storage facilities.
Additionally, the Israel political echelon has decided to stop the entry of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip in light of Hamas’s ongoing ceasefire violations.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has officially named Israel’s ongoing conflict with Hamas “The War of Redemption,” saying it marks the nation’s resurgence following the October 7 attacks and two years of fighting in Gaza.
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Iran Executes Individual Accused of Spying for Israel, News Agency Says
Israel and Iran flags are seen in this illustration taken June 18, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration
Iran executed on Saturday an individual accused of spying for Israel, the judiciary’s Mizan news agency reported on Sunday citing an Iranian prosecutor.
The individual had links to the Israeli intelligence service Mossad and had leaked classified information, Mizan cited the judiciary official as saying.
Entangled in a decades-long shadow war with Israel, Iran has executed many people it accused of having links with Israel’s intelligence service and facilitating its operations in the country.
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Netanyahu Confirms He Will Run in Israel’s 2026 Election
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a news conference in Jerusalem, Sept. 2, 2024. Photo: Ohad Zwigenberg/Pool via REUTERS
i24 News – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on Saturday evening that he intends to run for re-election in the 2026 legislative elections, declaring confidently that he will “win.”
The announcement came during an extended interview on Channel 14’s program The Patriots, where Netanyahu discussed key moments of his current term, tensions with Washington, and his perspective on the ongoing war in Gaza.
Welcomed by cheering supporters chanting “Bibi, King of Israel,” Netanyahu described the Gaza conflict as “the war of rebirth,” saying it had strengthened Israel and demonstrated the nation’s resilience.
He praised the “courage of soldiers and the wounded,” attributing recent military gains to “difficult but just decisions” and close coordination with former U.S. President Donald Trump.
Addressing the war’s endgame, Netanyahu asserted that fighting would continue “until all hostages are freed and Hamas is disarmed.”
Turning to Lebanon, he defended Israel’s strike on Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, calling it “a decisive moment to break the axis of evil,” though he acknowledged that some advisers had warned of possible Iranian retaliation.
On diplomatic tensions, Netanyahu admitted to frictions with the Biden administration, claiming that Washington had temporarily halted weapons deliveries. “I told [US Secretary of State Antony] Blinken: if we run out of ammunition, we’ll fight with our bare hands,” he said.
Rejecting criticism over hostage negotiations, Netanyahu denied reports that former President Trump had dictated the terms of their release deal, insisting instead that “we worked together on a formula beneficial for Israel.”
Concluding the interview on a personal note, Netanyahu said he draws strength from public support and from his wife, Sara Netanyahu, whom he described as “my lioness, an inexhaustible source of courage.”