Brooklyn Nets center Nic Claxton Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

Nets center: Preseason game vs. Israeli team should be canceled

By Victor Barbosa | Last updated 10/11/23

Brooklyn Nets center Nic Claxton said Wednesday that the team's upcoming game against Maccabi Ra'anana should be canceled amid the ongoing war between Israel and Palestinian militant groups.

Maccabi Ra'anana are an Israeli team that competes in the Israeli National League. They are scheduled to play the Nets in a preseason contest at 7:30 p.m. ET Thursday at the Barclays Center.

Nic Claxton on #Nets facing Israeli team Maccabi Ra’anana: “We feel for them. I don’t think we should be playing the game personally. There’s bigger things than basketball going on.” #nba
— Brian Lewis (@NYPost_Lewis) October 11, 2023

Nic Claxton said he feels Thursday’s game against Maccabi Ra’anana, an Israeli team, should be cancelled:

“We feel for them… There’s bigger things going on for them than basketball.”

Claxton said the Nets have discussed what’s happening in Israel these last few days.
— Erik Slater (@erikslater_) October 11, 2023

According to BK Reader, the international club was founded in 1980 and won the Israeli 2nd Division championship during the 1995-96 season. It then moved to Israel's "top-level" Israeli Super League for the first time during the 1996-97 campaign.

Per the report, the Ra'anana finished second in the Super League in 2000 and took part in the Pan-European third-level competition, the FIBA Korac Cup, during the 2001-2002 season.

"In 2002, due to financial problems, the club merged with Hapoel Herzliya, which was then renamed to Bnei Hasharon," the report said. "But after the merger of the two clubs ended in 2011, the club began again competing under its original Maccabi Ra'anana name. Maccabi Ra'anana won the Israeli Basketball Association Cup (Israel's 2nd Division Cup), in the 2011–12 season."

Thursday's game won't be the first time that an NBA squad is facing Maccabi in an exhibition contest. The Ra'anana took on the Los Angeles Clippers, Oklahoma City Thunder and Portland Trail Blazers across a U.S. tour in 2022, dropping all three tilts.

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