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The NBA’s All-Star Weekend Unexpectedly Taught Us All a Lesson in Love and Empathy
Basketball hoop, illustrative. Photo: Pixabay.
JNS.org – Some 5 million people tuned into the NBA All-Star Weekend to see Lebron James in his 20th All-Star Game, Mac McClung win the dunk contest, and the world’s best three-point shooters Steph Curry and Sabrina Ionescu square off.
All-Star games allow athletes to take a mid-season break, catch up with each other and their families, and prepare for the remainder of the season, hopefully ending in a playoff push. When the 2023 NBA season began, however, the world was a different place for some.
On Oct. 7, Ofir Engel, a high-school basketball player from Jerusalem, was visiting his girlfriend Yuval Sharabi at Kibbutz Be’eri in southern Israel. He was kidnapped by Hamas when the terror group attacked the kibbutz and was taken to the Gaza Strip along with Yuval’s father, Yossi, and 16-year-old, Amit Shani.
While the NBA season kicked off, Ofir spent 54 days in captivity—not knowing if he would ever see his family or home again, much less touch a basketball or watch a game. On Nov. 29, Ofir and Amit were two of the lucky ones released in a prisoner swap for jailed terrorists.
Yuval’s father remained captive and was pronounced dead on Jan. 16. Her uncle Eli is still captive, while her aunt and two cousins were murdered on Oct. 7.
Basketball has always been a huge part of Ofir’s life, which included training with Tamir Goodman, the “Jewish Jordan.” It so happened that last weekend, as a form of respite, a few moments to take his mind off the trauma that haunts him daily, Ofir and Yuval were treated to a trip to the NBA All-Star Weekend at the Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis by former NBA agent Happy Walters and sports journalist Emily Austin.
Ofir watched his athletic heroes shoot, pass and dunk. He took photos on the court and lived every kid’s basketball dream. The weekend, however, was not about basketball. Rather, it was about the world witnessing the humanity and goodness that we have to offer each other and how a basketball can help change the world we live in to the world in which we want to live.
Ernie Johnson, the longtime host of “Inside the NBA” and six-time Sports Emmy Award winner, was once again at the center of All-Star Weekend, interviewing celebrities and giving in-depth analysis of the season in progress.
As a rabbi and host of the podcast “Rabbi on the Sidelines,” I had the opportunity to interview Johnson in February 2022. We spoke about his deep faith, the challenges he faced in two battles with cancer, as well as the miraculous story of his adopted son Michael, who suffered from muscular dystrophy but lived an amazingly full life and passed away in 2021 at age 33.
While a ventilator helped him breathe and a wheelchair helped him traverse the world, it was Michael’s love that permeated the soul of every person he met. Michael, who could barely speak, would always say, “Love you, too,” no matter who you were and before he even had a conversation with you. He would not only say these words but would teach you how to say them in sign language.
Ernie Johnson is a man of faith, a man of moral clarity and a man who defines empathy and kindness. His son Michael taught his father this day after day. And “love you, too” was once again on display at the NBA All-Star Weekend.
As the game concluded on Sunday evening, Ernie became aware that Ofir and Yuval were in the arena. As the cameras shut off, Ernie invited them to the TNT set. They embraced, shared their story and took a photo now spreading widely in social media circles.
The picture shows Ofir, the released hostage; Yuval, still grieving for her father, aunt and cousins, and praying for the release of her uncle; and Ernie Johnson. They are all making the sign with their hand: “Love you, too!”
In a speech to the Alabama Crimson Tide football team, Johnson shared with the athletes two lessons that Michael shared with the world. First, there is value in everybody. When you step away from your own agenda, you notice that you can make someone’s life better today. We all love to cheer for the home team, but there’s a much bigger team we all belong to that seeks to make life better.
Second, Johnson teaches “be a better human.” Johnson often wears a t-shirt with those words when he is not wearing his famous colorful bow ties on air. He wore it during my podcast and he wears it at the motivational speeches he gives.
On Sunday evening, there was no need for a T-shirt. “Be a better human” was taught by Johnson’s actions.
Just hours after meeting Ofir and Yuval, Johnson posted the photo he took with them. He said, “I was not expecting my All-Star Weekend to conclude with this meeting. And I don’t have the words to describe how impactful it was.” He signed the post, “Love you, too.”
If only Ofir and Yuval could say those words to her father, her aunt and her cousins. If only we could say those words to the hostages—who must come home now.
The post The NBA’s All-Star Weekend Unexpectedly Taught Us All a Lesson in Love and Empathy first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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‘With or Without Russia’s Help’: Iran Pledges to Block South Caucasus Route Opened Up By Peace Deal
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., July 8, 2025. Photo: Kevin Lamarque via Reuters Connect.
i24 News – Iran will block the establishment of a US-backed transit corridor in the South Caucasus region with or without Moscow’s help, a senior adviser to Iran’s supreme leader was quoted as saying on Saturday by the Iran International website, one day after the historic peace agreement between Azerbaijan and Armenia.
“Mr. Trump thinks the Caucasus is a piece of real estate he can lease for 99 years,” Ali Akbar Velayati said of the so-called Zangezur corridor, the establishment of which is stipulated in the peace deal unveiled on Friday by US President Donald Trump. The White House said the transit route would facilitate greater exports of energy and other resources.
“This passage will not become a gateway for Trump’s mercenaries — it will become their graveyard,” the Khamenei advisor added.
Baku and Yerevan have been at loggerheads since the late 1980s when Nagorno-Karabakh, a mountainous Azerbaijani region mostly populated by ethnic Armenians, broke away from Azerbaijan with support from Armenia. Azerbaijan took back full control of the region in 2023, prompting or forcing almost all of the territory’s 100,000 ethnic Armenians to flee to Armenia.
Yet that painful history was put to the side on Friday at the White House, as Trump oversaw a signing ceremony, flanked by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.
The peace deal with Azerbaijan—a pro-Western ally of Israel—is expected to pull Armenia out of the Russian and Iranian sphere of influence and could transform the South Caucasus, an energy-producing region neighboring Russia, Europe, Turkey and Iran.
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UK Police Arrest 150 at Protest for Banned Palestine Action Group
People holding signs sit during a rally organised by Defend Our Juries, challenging the British government’s proscription of “Palestine Action” under anti-terrorism laws, in Parliament Square, in London, Britain, August 9, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Jaimi Joy
London’s Metropolitan Police said on Saturday it had arrested 150 people at a protest against Britain’s decision to ban the group Palestine Action, adding it was making further arrests.
Officers made arrests after crowds, waving placards expressing support for the group, gathered in Parliament Square, the force said on X.
Protesters, some wearing black and white Palestinian scarves, chanted “shame on you” and “hands off Gaza,” and held signs such as “I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action,” video taken by Reuters at the scene showed.
In July, British lawmakers banned Palestine Action under anti-terrorism legislation after some of its members broke into a Royal Air Force base and damaged planes in protest against Britain’s support for Israel.
The ban makes it a crime to be a member of the group, carrying a maximum sentence of 14 years in prison.
The co-founder of Palestine Action, Huda Ammori, last week won a bid to bring a legal challenge against the ban.
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‘No Leniency’: Iran Announces Arrest of 20 ‘Zionist Agents’
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi addresses a special session of the Human Rights Council at the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, June 20, 2025. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse
i24 News – Iranian authorities have in recent months arrested 20 people charged with being “Israeli Mossad operatives,” the judiciary said, adding that the Islamic regime will mete out the harshest punishments.
“The judiciary will show no leniency toward spies and agents of the Zionist regime, and with firm rulings, will make an example of them all,” spokesperson Asghar Jahangiri told Iranian media. However, it is understood that an unspecified number of detainees were released, apparently after the charges against them could not be substantiated.
The Islamic Republic was left reeling by a devastating 12-day war with Israel earlier in the summer that left a significant proportion of its military arsenal in ruins and dealt a serious setback to its uranium enrichment program. The fallout included an uptick in executions of Iranians convicted of spying for Israel, with at least eight death sentences carried out in recent months. Hit with international sanctions, the country is in dire economic straights, with frequent energy outages and skyrocketing unemployment.
In recent weeks Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi affirmed that Tehran cannot give up on its nuclear enrichment program even as it was severely damaged during the war.
“It is stopped because, yes, damages are serious and severe. But obviously we cannot give up of enrichment because it is an achievement of our own scientists. And now, more than that, it is a question of national pride,” the official told Fox News.