Shani Blatt on her father David Blatt, her career, and the road to the 2026 World Cup
After the 2026 World Cup ends, Shani Blatt plans to travel to the United States to visit her father, former top coach David Blatt, who lives in Charleston, South Carolina. She says her parents are no longer together and that he moved there partly because of treatment for multiple sclerosis. They speak daily, often by FaceTime, and she says he is surrounded by friends who help him.
Blatt, 33, is a fitness coach, sideline reporter and host of the basketball show "Eretz HaBasketball" on Sport 5 for the past five years, and one of the hosts of the EuroLeague & Friends podcast. During the World Cup, which is streamed across Kan 11 digital platforms, she works as a field reporter. "It is a huge event," she says. "I bring all the buzz and fun around it and break into Tal Berman's broadcasts from the studio in Israel. For my career, this is a leap forward. My goal is to make it accessible in the coolest way possible."
She says her childhood was shaped by constant moves tied to her father's coaching career. She was born in Beit Hillel, then lived in Beit Yehoshua, Italy, Turkey, Russia, Beit Ya'akov in Even Yehuda, Herzliya and Tel Aviv. She describes the repeated relocations as difficult academically and socially, but says sports and theater helped her connect with people. Her mother, Kinneret, ran the family and her father's career, while her siblings include twin sister Adi, brother Tamir, a national-team and Maccabi Tel Aviv basketball player, and sister Ella, a cyber doctorate student at Reichman.
David Blatt was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in August 2019, after years of unexplained symptoms, balance problems and an initial misdiagnosis that led to back surgery. Shani says the family was shocked when he told her after the operation, "It is not the back. I feel it is something else," and later learned it was MS. She says the disease affected his limbs and forced him to stop coaching, something she found painful because, in her words, "If it were not for the illness, he would have gone back to coaching." He now works in professional consulting for the Canada national basketball team and in executive and corporate consulting, and living in the U.S. gives him access to advanced treatment and close medical supervision.
Blatt says her father remains a source of inspiration and advice, including telling her before major broadcasts to be herself and stay alert to what is happening around her. She also says the family was deeply affected when he was not allowed to coach Israel's national team in 2005 because he lacked the required Wingate coaching certificate, and she was angry that bureaucracy blocked him. She recalls his 2019 torch-lighting honor, saying he was already struggling to stand but spoke with dignity, and she cried watching him. The interview also touches on her relationship status, she says she has been single for about two years, is focused on her career, plans fertility preservation, and does not want a relationship right now. Asked about the World Cup, she picks Spain to win, supports Argentina, and wants an Argentina-Portugal final.
