Israeli Basketball Is Kind Of Insane

This is what happened at the close of last night's chapter of Israel's biggest rivalry, Maccabi Tel Aviv and Hapoel Tel Aviv. After a close away win for Maccabi, center Sofoklis Schortsanitis—a former Clippers draft pick—charged into a hostile crowd to try to beat up a Hapoel fan. You can see the fan, in white with a red scarf, running the fuck away.

While there is never a good reason for an athlete to go into the stands, what was Schortsanitis's? He said the fan threatened to rape his daughter. Oh.

Things just got weirder after the game, with the clubs exchanging snippy official statements. Hapoel, most likely seeking to get one of its rival's better players suspended for the year, said "trampled security personnel, fans, and small children."

Maccabi fired back with a statement of its own, claiming Schortsanitis did not swing at or hit anyone. So Hapoel responded:

"This is a load of lies. But what can you expect from a club whose captain calls players 'Nazis' and wish them brain cancer."

Which is also a thing that happened, because Israeli basketball is insane.

[ Times of Israel, h/t Daniel]