Many of the National Basketball Association’s biggest stars are quietly allying themselves with the State of Israel, making official visits to the country, meeting IDF troops, and investing in its national security industry. Meanwhile, individuals criticizing Israel and supporting Palestinian liberation have been condemned, threatened, and marginalized.

This has caused widespread consternation and push back from the league’s largely progressive fan base. The NBA, in other words, has an Israel problem.

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The NBA playoffs start this weekend, with Kevin Durant’s Rockets’ facing LeBron James’ Lakers. Yet both stars have questionable ties to Israel. Durant, for example, is an investor in Skydio, a CIA-funded drone manufacturer that sells surveillance and weaponryexclusivelyto governments.

Within hours of the October 7, 2023, attack, the company wassendingits drones to Israel, where they play an important part in the hi-tech genocide in Gaza. The buzz of Skydio X10 and X10D drones is a near constant sound over Gaza. The drones can be equipped with speakers, spotlights, cameras, or offensive weaponry such as grenades. Israel hasusedsimilar drones to play sounds of screaming women and crying babies to lure people to a scene, only to be targeted for assassination.

The U.S. governmentpaidfor at least 1000 Skydio drones to be sent to Ukraine to be used in its battle against Russia. Another majorfunderof the company isIn-Q-Tel, the CIA’s investments department.

Durant –knownfor spending a great deal of his time online – is well aware of his investment, and what these drones are being used for, having directlyrespondedto people bringing the issue up. But he has fastidiously refused to address the criticisms. As one NBA fanwrote, “Kevin Durant is on his phone for 23 hours a day to ratio people with 15 followers on Twitter, but bring up his ties with Israel, and now he’s nowhere to be found.”

Durant’s opponent this weekend, LeBron James, presents himself as an activist athlete. An outspoken supporter of racial justice movements, he has used his platform to support liberal causes, such as voter registration and to oppose police killings.IdolizingMuhammad Ali, he also very publicly allowed himself to be photographed at a press conference reading the autobiography of Malcolm X (although he wasbarely ableto answer even basic questions about its content).

Surprisingly, then, the four-time NBA Most Valuable Player has expressed his strong support for Israel, and stayed silent on its assault on its neighbors. In the wake of October 7, James was one of many celebrities to rush out statements of solidarity with Israel and condemnation of Hamas.

“The devastation in Israel is tragic and unacceptable. The murder and violence against innocent people by Hamas is terrorism,” hewrote, sending his “deepest condolences to Israel and the Jewish community,” while suggesting Hamas were a “hate” movement.

Source: SGT Report