Former National Basketball Association (NBA) player Patrick Beverley described the feelings of an Israeli-based basketball team when Iran fired a missile at Israel.
Speaking from Tel Aviv on Wednesday, the co-host of “The Pat Bev Podcast with Lawn” said on his podcast that he was persuaded to come to Israel by some of his Israeli teammates who assured him it would be safe to return home. He said he had just returned. He returned to Israel from Samokov in southwest Bulgaria after his team Hapoel Tel Aviv recorded their first EuroCup win of the season on Tuesday night.
Hapoel Tel Aviv defeated Vilnius, Lithuania-based BC Wolves Twinsbet 89-84.
Beverley said Hapoel Tel Aviv will play its home games in Samokov due to regional safety concerns.
“It’s really quiet,” he said of Tel Aviv. “Obviously it wasn’t quiet yesterday.” [Tuesday]”
“I usually get to the gym in about 30 or 40 minutes, and when I listen to it, something might be going on, but then you just see it on the faces of my teammates in Israel,” Beverley said. He talked about his reaction before the match. Iran launches missile attack on Israel. (Related: Iran fires nearly 200 missiles at Israel as Middle East reaches boiling point)
When she turned off her phone’s airplane mode, “I started hearing a lot of conversations,” Beverly said. “So I was like, oh, what’s going on?”
Later, he learned from a basketball player friend based in the United States that Iran had fired a missile at Israel.
“So now I’m looking at my teammates in Israel like, ‘Hey, how’s everyone doing?'” How’s everyone in the family? ” he recalled.
“I had a teammate who just had a baby a week ago,” he added. Still, “250 missiles were fired, this is like the Fourth of July…It’s very tense, the locker room is very tense.”
Beverley jumped out of her seat and said she heard a noise, worrying co-host Adam Ferrone. Returning to the podcast, Beverly said, “My neighbors are making noise, they’re playing music, and, shhh, I’m safe,” but Ferrone wasn’t immediately convinced.
“I talked to my mom and she said, ‘Why are you going back?’ ‘Because I want to go back,'” Beverly said.
“I’m from Chicago and I’ll say this: When I signed here, I got a lot of really bad things via Twitter…I literally had people say, ‘Guys, one more round. Try it, Pat,’ stay there and send more missiles,” he added, recounting the hateful messages he received.
“Nobody says anything about the death toll in Chicago, but when you go to another place just to play basketball, you get a feeling of hatred,” he said.
Lamenting Chicago’s long history of insecurity, Beverly added that it has made her accustomed to living in harsh conditions. He added that his teammates were also used to the instability in the Middle East.
Iran fired about 200 missiles at Israel during the match in response to the Israeli airstrike that killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and the escalating conflict between Israel and the group. Israel, with U.S. support, was able to protect its population of nearly 10 million people, but one missile killed a Palestinian in Jericho in the West Bank.
“War is not good for anyone,” Beverly said.
“Unless you’re a missile company,” Mr. Ferrone deadpans.
Joins the NBA’s Houston Rockets from Russian BC Spartak St. Petersburg Beverley played for 12 seasons with various NBA teams. his last team Before moving to Israel, he played for the Milwaukee Bucks.
