Hapoel Jerusalem basketball club will make history on October 4, facing the NBA’s Brooklyn Nets for the first time in a special event with New York’s Jewish community. The game, set at the Nets’ home arena, Barclays Center, marks a milestone for the Jerusalem club, which has never played a team from the world’s top basketball league.
The matchup offers the team a chance to compete against two young Israeli players drafted by the Brooklyn team this summer, Ben Saraf and Danny Wolf, while strengthening ties with North American Jewish fans through a large-scale community event.
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If Hapoel advances to the Winner Cup final on October 5, the match may be postponed. The team faces a grueling schedule, starting with a EuroCup match against Hamburg in Germany on September 30, followed by the New York trip, which includes Yom Kippur, and a direct flight to Belgrade for a game against Cedevita Olimpija on October 8.
Israel’s Premier League begins October 12, so the NBA game won’t disrupt domestic season preparations but adds a significant logistical challenge to the Israeli team's packed itinerary.