CLEVELAND, Ohio — Maccabi Ra'anana plays in the Israeli National League, which is the second-tier division league of Israel. The team is in the United States for a three-game NBA preseason tour while war breaks out in their home country.
"Your whole life you prepare to do something like this. You wanna have fun, but it's really secondary," says Maccabi Ra'anana forward Jonathan Mor.
"It's not like I can really enjoy what I'm doing right now. I'm gonna do it the best way I can, but for me, it's most important to go back [to Israel]," says Maccabi Ra'anana head coach Yehu Orland.
Maccabi Ra'anana was already in the United States when Hamas launched its terrorist attack on Israel on Oct. 7.
"It's a full-on panic attack for the last - I don't know - almost 10 days, 9 days. I'm not here. None of the Israelis are here," says Mor.
"Our hearts, our minds - we are there. Our bodies are here," says Orland.
There were five days between the start of the war in Israel and Maccabi Ra'anana's first game in the United States. The team had to make a decision - play or go home. One player chose to return to Israel, while the rest of the team elected to stay.
"We decided that what I'm doing right now - interviewing, talking about it, shedding light on the situation, playing - if some Jewish people, Israelis back home will see Israel fight through it, try to get back to life - maybe it would be better than just going back home and being with our families," explains Mor.
Maccabi Ra'anana's goal is to spread hope by suiting up and playing the schedule.
"There are a lot of babies, children and young people in Israel that need hope. It's not like we're gonna give them the hope that they need, but it's gonna be another step. I think it was the right decision for us, playing here," says Orland.
Maccabi Ra'anana arrived in Cleveland on Friday and will play the Cavaliers on Monday night at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse. However, knowing the tragedy back home has made it hard to compartmentalize.
"I've been trying to be focused and do my best, but I'm not at my best. I'm not focused on this. I'm just trying to get back quickly to my phone. I never open my phone on game days. Here, whenever I can, I open my phone just to see. The best situation is no messages, no phone calls, no nothing," says Mor.
Cleveland is the second stop on Maccabi Ra'anana's trip. They played the Nets in Brooklyn last week and will play their final contest against the Timberwolves in Minnesota on Tuesday.
"We're gonna come and play. We prepared for the game. We have a great group of guys. We are here to try to perform the best way we can," says Orland.
Maccabi Ra'anana is Cleveland's sixth international opponent since 2009 and first since 2019.
Carly Mascitti is a sports anchor at News 5 Cleveland. Follow her on Twitter @carlymascitti.
