League chief says Hoard incident damaged the league’s image

Game 2 of the final series between Maccabi Tel Aviv and Hapoel Tel Aviv is scheduled for Thursday night, while tensions remain high after the first game, which Maccabi won to take a 1-0 lead. Near the end of that opener, a scuffle broke out after Jalen Hoard confronted a Hapoel fan, prompting players and staff from both sides to intervene.

Hoard drew heavy criticism afterward, including from Hapoel owner Ofer Yannay. In an interview on 5 ba’Air, Israel Basketball League chairman Ari Steinberg said he saw the incident as unacceptable. “There is no place for any player to leave the court and confront a fan,” he said, adding that he does not know exactly what happened but had asked for a response regarding the player’s conduct.

Steinberg said that even though Hoard was not put on trial, a decision he attributed to the union, the league has its own authority and he intends to act. “There is a damage to the league’s image,” he said. “I know you do not always see everything, but what I did see I did not like.”