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The top 8 Jewish sports moments of 2022, from Sue Bird to Sandy Koufax
(JTA) — For Jewish sports fans, 2022 was a year of very high highs and particularly low lows.
The fall was dominated by an antisemitism scandal involving Brooklyn Nets star Kyrie Irving, who shared a link to an antisemitic film on Twitter and initially refused to apologize. Irving was suspended for eight games and brought increased attention to antisemitism, Black-Jewish relations and the Black Hebrew Israelite movement.
Off-court controversy aside, Jewish athletes enjoyed an All-Star caliber year in 2022. Jews across sports shined on the international stage at the Maccabiah Games, the Beijing Olympics and the World Cup. And as the sports world honored some of the best to ever do it — we’re looking at you, Sandy Koufax and Sue Bird — we also got a glimpse of the next generation of Jewish sports stars.
We also bid farewell to some familiar faces who retired, such as Jewish Super Bowl champions Ali Marpet and Mitchell Schwartz and the duo behind the Jewish Sports Review magazine. And we shared memories of those who died this year, including Jewish Olympic gold medalist “Ike” Berger, and Vin Scully and Franco Harris — two sports legends who are not Jewish but whose careers are cherished by Jewish fans.
But in the end, here are the Jewish Sport Report’s top Jewish sports moments of the year — plus one to look forward to in 2023.
8. Jason Brown performed to “Schindler’s List” at the 2022 Beijing Olympics
Jason Brown skates during the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games at Capital Indoor Stadium, Feb. 10, 2022. (Lintao Zhang/Getty Images)
The 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing kicked off the year in Jewish sports with flair. More than a dozen Jewish athletes from around the world competed in hockey, skating, snowboarding and more.
Perhaps the best known Jewish Olympian was Jason Brown, a figure skater who won a bronze medal at the 2014 Games in Sochi. Brown didn’t medal in 2022 (he finished sixth), but he did nab a personal best score, while skating to the theme from “Schindler’s List.”
Emery Lehman also represented the U.S. on the ice, winning a bronze team medal in speed skating.
7. Max Fried continued his MLB dominance
Max Fried flips the ball to first base during a game against the Philadelphia Phillies, July 25, 2022. (Mitchell Leff/Getty Images)
With four full seasons in Major League Baseball now under his belt, Atlanta Braves ace Max Fried has solidified himself as one of the sport’s best pitchers.
In 2022, Fried earned his first All-Star selection while winning his third straight Gold Glove award as the National League’s best defensive pitcher. He finished as the runner-up for NL Cy Young Award, given to the league’s best pitcher, and was named to the Second All-MLB team for the second straight year, by posting a 14-7 record in 2022 (identical to his 2021 output) with an MLB-seventh-best 2.48 earned-run average and 170 strikeouts.
The 28-year-old left-hander is a Los Angeles native, and his childhood hero was Dodger legend and fellow lefty Sandy Koufax, who had his own highlight this year — more below.
6. Greg Joseph made multiple historic game-winning field goals
Greg Joseph celebrates with teammates after kicking a game winning 61-yard field goal as time expired to beat the New York Giants 27-24 at U.S. Bank Stadium on Dec. 24, 2022 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Stephen Maturen/Getty Images)
The Minnesota Vikings owe much of their success this season to the right foot of Greg Joseph.
The Jewish kicker — who has engaged with Jewish communities in every city he has played in — has five game-winning field goals this season, including two in a row that each made history.
In Week 15, Joseph put a 40-yarder through the uprights to secure a 39-36 Vikings win over the Indianapolis Colts, capping off the largest comeback in NFL history. The Colts had led 33-0.
THE @VIKINGS CAP OFF THE LARGEST COMEBACK IN NFL HISTORY.
FROM 33-0 DOWN TO 39-36. #INDvsMIN pic.twitter.com/p4vtjhuPY7
— NFL (@NFL) December 17, 2022
Then in Week 16, Joseph blasted a 61-yarder just as time expired to beat the New York Giants, 27-24. The kick was the longest of Joseph’s career, the longest in Vikings franchise history and likely the longest ever by a Jewish player.
GREG JOSEPH 61-YARD FIELD GOAL FOR THE WIN! @VIKINGS #NYGvsMIN pic.twitter.com/a7JwsbirRX
— NFL (@NFL) December 24, 2022
5. Sue Bird brought her remarkable career to an end
Sue Bird drives to the basket against Team Japan in the final of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics in Saitama, Japan, Aug. 8, 2021. (Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
From her earliest college days to her final professional game in the WNBA, Sue Bird has been among the best of the best in any sport: She is a two-time NCAA champion, a four-time WNBA champion, a five-time Olympic gold medalist and a four-time FIBA World Champion. She is the all-time WNBA leader in assists, games played, minutes played, All-Star appearances and seasons played.
Bird announced in June that she would retire after the season, and her Seattle Storm lost in the playoff semifinals to the Las Vegas Aces, ending her 19-year career in the WNBA.
Bird, who obtained Israeli citizenship in 2006 in part so she could play for European teams, became a respected entrepreneur, activist and basketball executive even before her playing career ended, setting her up for a successful next chapter.
4. The sports world marked the 50th anniversary of the Munich massacre
Israeli fans at the infamous 1972 Olympics in Munich, Sept. 5, 1972. (Klaus Rose/picture alliance via Getty Images)
This year was the 50th anniversary of the Munich Olympics massacre, the terrorist attack at the 1972 Games that took the lives of 11 Israelis after an hours-long hostage standoff.
After a tense negotiation process, the Israeli families of the victims reached a compensation deal with Germany in time for the official 50th anniversary ceremony. Meanwhile, the Israeli marathon team won gold at the European Championships in Munich, and ESPN produced a documentary about Shaul Ladany, an Olympic racewalker who survived both the Holocaust and the Munich attack. The episode, reported and narrated by Jewish Emmy winner Jeremy Schaap, told the story of the massacre to a mainstream audience on the network’s “E:60” series.
3. Sandy Koufax was immortalized at Dodger Stadium
The new Sandy Koufax statue at Dodger Stadium is unveiled, June 18, 2022. (Jacob Gurvis)
Sandy Koufax’s legacy as the greatest Jewish athlete ever has never been in question. But this past summer, almost 60 years after the Hall of Fame pitcher sat out a World Series game to observe Yom Kippur, Koufax, now 86, was given one of his most meaningful tributes yet: a permanent statue at Dodger Stadium.
The Dodgers unveiled the Koufax statue — next to one of his former teammates, Jackie Robinson — with a pregame ceremony June 18, three years after the statue was originally announced. The unveiling had been postponed due to the pandemic.
Koufax’s Jewish identity — and his famous Yom Kippur sit-out — were highlighted at the ceremony alongside his many career accolades, which include three Cy Young Awards and three seasons each with more than 300 strikeouts and an earned run average below two.
2. Ryan Turell began his professional basketball career, with a kippah
NBA G League player Ryan Turell signs a fan’s yarmulke following his game with Detroit’s Motor City Cruise, Nov. 17, 2022. (Andrew Lapin/JTA)
Ryan Turell, the former Yeshiva University basketball phenom, took a big step toward his goal of becoming the NBA’s first-ever Orthodox player.
Turell was selected by the Motor City Cruise in October’s G League draft, joining the minor-league affiliate of the Detroit Pistons. He became the first known Orthodox player in the league.
For Jewish fans in Detroit, Turell’s ascension has provided a boost of excitement and enthusiasm. And for the NBA organization, it created an opportunity to engage with the local Jewish community. The Pistons are offering kosher concessions at the Cruise arena and celebrated Jewish Heritage Night and Hanukkah this month.
In the Cruise’s regular season opener Dec. 27, Turell dropped 21 points in only 17 minutes.
1. The Maccabiah Games returned to Israel — with a special guest
Israeli President Isaac Herzog, President Joe Biden, and Israel’s caretaker Prime Minister Yair Lapid applaud and cheer as they attend the opening ceremony of the Maccabiah Games at Teddy Stadium in Jerusalem, July 14, 2022. (Ronen Zvulun/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
The 21st Maccabiah Games, also known as the “Jewish Olympics,” took center stage in Israel in July.
Originally scheduled for 2021, the quadrennial international Jewish sports competition kicked off at Teddy Stadium in Jerusalem with an opening ceremony on July 14 — and U.S. President Joe Biden made an appearance, becoming the first American president to do so.
With 10,000 Jewish athletes from around the world convening for two weeks, there were plenty of stories to follow. Here are a few highlights:
Ahead of the 21st Maccabiah Games, explore photos from ‘Jewish Olympics’ history
At the ‘Jewish Olympics,’ Argentine athletes made a splash playing for their country — and for many others
Footwear designer Stuart Weitzman is a Maccabiah pingpong medalist
How the Maccabiah Games supported a Jewish family in the face of tragedy
And here’s something to look forward to in 2023
Cody Decker playing for Team Israel in a 2016 World Baseball Classic qualifier game at MCU Park in Brooklyn, N.Y., Sept. 23, 2016. (Alex Trautwig/MLB via Getty Images)
Lastly, as the calendar turns to a new year, there is (at least) one major Jewish sports storyline on deck: the 2023 World Baseball Classic, which will take place in Miami in March.
After its Cinderella run in 2017 and an Olympic appearance in 2021, Team Israel returns to the international stage with more major league talent than ever, including All-Star outfielder Joc Pederson and pitchers Dean Kremer and Eli Morgan.
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Palestinian Terrorists Hand Over Body of Another Gaza Hostage
Palestinians walk past the rubble of destroyed buildings, amid a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, in Jabalia, northern Gaza Strip, November 6, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Palestinian terrorist group Islamic Jihad handed over the body of a deceased hostage on Friday as part of the Gaza ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.
The Israeli military said in a statement on Saturday it had confirmed the body was that of Lior Rudaeff following an identification process.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said that a coffin carrying the remains of a hostage had been handed over to Israeli security forces in Gaza via the Red Cross.
Islamic Jihad is an armed group that is allied with Hamas and also took hostages during the October 7, 2023, attack that precipitated the Gaza war. It said the hostage’s body was located in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis.
Under the October ceasefire deal, Hamas turned over all 20 living hostages still held in Gaza since the group’s attack on Israel, in return for nearly 2,000 Palestinian convicts and wartime detainees held in Israel.
The ceasefire agreement also included the return of remains of 28 deceased hostages in exchange for the remains of 360 militants.
Including Rudaeff, taken from the Kibbutz Nir Yitzchak, 23 hostage bodies have been returned in exchange for 300 bodies of Palestinians, though not all have been identified, according to Gaza’s health authorities.
The tenuous ceasefire has calmed most but not all fighting, allowing hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to return to the ruins of their homes in Gaza. Israel has withdrawn troops from positions in cities and more aid has been allowed in.
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Iran’s Severe Water Crisis Prompts Pezeshkian to Raise Possibility of Evacuating Tehran
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian attends the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit 2025, in Tianjin, China, September 1, 2025. Iran’s Presidential website/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via REUTERS
i24 News – As Iran is experiencing one of its worst droughts in decades, President Masoud Pezeshkian warned that the capital of Tehran might have to be evacuated if there were no rains in the next two months.
“If it doesn’t rain, we will have to start restricting water supplies in Tehran next month. If the drought continues, we will run out of water and be forced to evacuate the city,” the leader was quoted as saying.
Pezeshkian described the situation as “extremely critical,” citing reports that Tehran’s dam reservoirs have fallen to their lowest level in 60 years.
According to the director of the Tehran Water Company, the largest water reservoir serving the capital currently holds 14 million cubic meters, compared to 86 million at the same time last year.
Latyan Dam, another key reservoir, is only about nine percent full. “Latyan’s water storage is just nine million cubic meters,” Deputy Energy Minister Mohammad Javanbakht said recently, calling the situation “critical.”
On Saturday, Energy Minister Abbas Aliabadi said “we are forced to cut off the water supply for citizens on some evenings so that the reservoirs can refill.”
The ongoing crisis is giving rise to increasing speculation that further shortages could trigger nationwide protests and social unrest.
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US Forces Working with Israel on Gaza Aid, Israeli Official Says
A Palestinian carries aid supplies that entered Gaza, amid a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, in Zawaida in the central Gaza Strip. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
US forces are taking part in overseeing and coordinating aid transfers into the Gaza Strip together with Israel as part of US President Donald Trump’s ceasefire plan, an Israeli security official said on Saturday.
The Washington Post reported on Friday that the US-led Civil-Military Coordination Center (CMCC) will replace Israel in overseeing aid into Gaza. It cited a US official and people familiar with the matter as saying Israel was part of the process but that CMCC would decide what aid enters Gaza and how.
The Israeli security official said that Israeli security services remain part of policy, supervision and monitoring with decisions made jointly, and that the integration of the CMCC was already underway.
A spokesperson for the US embassy in Jerusalem told Reuters that the US was “working hard, in tandem with Israel and regional partners, on the next phases of implementing” the president’s “historic peace plan.” That includes coordinating the immediate distribution of humanitarian assistance and working through details.
The US is pleased by the “growing contributions of other donors and participating countries” in the CMCC to support humanitarian aid to Gaza, the spokesperson said.
TOO LITTLE AID GETTING IN
Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas agreed a month ago to a first phase of a peace plan presented by Trump. It paused a devastating two-year war in Gaza triggered by a cross-border attack by Hamas terrorists on October 7, 2023, and secured a deal to release Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners.
The CMCC began operating from southern Israel in late October, tasked with helping aid flow and stabilizing security in Gaza, according to the U.S. Central Command.
While the truce was meant to unleash a torrent of aid across the tiny, crowded enclave where famine was confirmed in August and where almost all the 2.3 million inhabitants have lost their homes, humanitarian agencies said last week that far too little aid is reaching Gaza.
Israel says it is fulfilling its obligations under the ceasefire agreement, which calls for an average of 600 trucks of supplies into Gaza per day. Reuters reported on October 23 that Washington is considering new proposals for humanitarian aid delivery.
The Israeli official said that the United States will lead coordination with the international community, with restrictions still in place on the list of non-governmental organizations supplying aid and the entry of so-called dual-use items, which Israel considers to have both civilian and military use.