Sports & Rec | Jewish News

Jewish businessmen Joshua Kushner, Bob Iger buy Los Angeles Lakers for record $12.5b

Jacob Gurvis — Thu, 27 Aug 2026 16:28:53 +0000

(JTA) —Jewish businessmen Bob Iger and Joshua Kushner are purchasing the NBA’s storied Los Angeles Lakers in a stunning, record-setting $12.5 billion deal.

The sale comes barely a year after the team’s controlling stake was sold for $10 billion to Mark Walter, the billionaire CEO of Guggenheim Partners who also owns MLB’s Los Angeles Dodgers, the WNBA’s L.A. Sparks, Premier League club Chelsea, the Professional Women’s Hockey League and Cadillac’s Formula 1 team.

Walter, who is not Jewish, is reportedly seeking cash to pay down loans in response to a Department of Justice investigation.

Kushner, 41, is the younger brother of Jared Kushner, son-in-law and advisor to President Donald Trump who has played a central role in Israel policy. The younger Kushner is a billionaire venture capitalist who holds a minority stake in the Miami Heat — which he will have to sell to complete the Lakers sale — and was previously a minority owner of the Memphis Grizzlies.

“As lifelong NBA fans, we are deeply honored for the opportunity to become stewards of the Los Angeles Lakers, one of the most iconic sports franchises in the world,” Iger and Kushner said in a statement. “We have immense respect for the leadership and vision of [longtime owners] Jerry and Jeanie Buss. Our long-term commitment is to build on that foundation, compete at the highest level, and serve this extraordinary team, its fans, and the city of Los Angeles.”

The Lakers sale is the latest in a string of recent high-profile NBA team transactions by and among Jewish businesspeople — including Mat Ishbia’s purchase of the Phoenix Suns, Gabe Plotkin and Rick Schnall’s purchase of the Charlotte Hornets from Michael Jordan, and Mark Cuban’s sale of the Dallas Mavericks to Miriam Adelson.

Kushner, who is the grandson of Holocaust survivors and was raised in an Orthodox home in Livingston, New Jersey, was at the center of a controversy in the world of professional soccer earlier this summer when his investment fund Thrive Eternal attempted to purchase a stake in FIFA’s World Cup tournaments.

Under pressure from stakeholders from across the sport, who objected to the prospect of private ownership of the sport’s preeminent contest, the global soccer body withdrew the privatization offer.

The Kushner family has donated millions of dollars to Jewish organizations in America and Israel, including the Friends of the Israel Defense Forces, the Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem, multiple West Bank settlement organizations, Chabad, the Ramaz School in Manhattan and Kehilath Jeshurun synagogue on the Upper West Side. The Joseph Kushner Hebrew Academy in Livingston is named for his grandfather, who launched the family’s real estate empire.

Kushner’s father Charles serves as the United States Ambassador to France and Monaco.

Iger, 75, ended his second stint as CEO of Disney earlier this year. He and his wife, Willow Bay, are the owners of the professional women’s soccer club Angel City FC. Iger was raised in a Jewish home.

Following the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel that launched the Gaza war, Iger sent a note to Disney’s Jewish employees to “express my shock and sadness.”

Team VB goes to Maccabi

Sam Nossen — Thu, 04 Sep 2025 18:24:49 +0000

For five hot days, July 27 – August 1, TeamVB’s four-person squad competed against delegations from across the country, plus Ukrainian, Israeli, and Canadian delegations at the JCC Maccabi–Access Games in Tucson, Arizona.

Returning athletes from Tidewater joined athletes from various regions of the United States to field teams in boys’ 3v3 basketball and girls’ soccer, while one local athlete continued to dominate in Access, for Jewish athletes ages 12-22 with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

The teen delegation from Virginia Beach was led by Tom Edwards, Simon Family JCC athletics director and accompanied by supportive family members including Tal, Tamir, and Hila Zach, as well as Lauren Karp Scolnick and Brigitte Bryant Gottlieb.

The weeklong Olympic-style games kicked off with an opening ceremony that featured comedian Eitan Levine, Israeli DJ Artifex, and speakers such as Israeli Olympian Judoka Ori Sasson and U.S. Rep. Juan Ciscomani. The almost 1,300 Jewish 13- 17-year-olds sang and danced at one point, creating a mosh pit in front of the stage. After, the tired teens left the venue and went home with their host families, with pleas from organizers to get good sleep and hydrate.

Ashten Konikoff and Leo Gottlieb opened day one play in 3v3 17U boys’ basketball with three games, ultimately losing all three but fighting hard throughout. Simultaneously, Shanny Zach and her mixed 17U girls’ soccer team from Carolina/Cleveland/Tucson/Miami Beach/Long Beach/San Antonio/San Diego played their first couple of games. The team ultimately lost both games, but Shanny made multiple jaw-dropping saves to keep them close.

On day two things really started to heat up; 14-year- old Oliver Scolnick medaled twice, a bronze medal in bowling and a gold in the 25-meter swim. #TeamVB also experienced a first when Tamir Zach, a #TeamVB alumnus and spectator, was bestowed a Midot Medal for his spontaneous volunteering as a soccer coach and as a united swimmer in the pool for the Access swim races.

Ashten and Leo’s team also found their groove, going 2-1, including pulling a huge upset over Indianapolis. After which, the boys’ basketball teams did their JCC Cares project, creating boxes of snacks and hygiene products for local teens in need.

That same evening, participants had a chance to destress and let loose with a big night out at a huge arcade and movie complex in downtown Tucson.

The Access Games came to a close with a luscious closing ceremony breakfast, which graciously acknowledged all the amazing people involved in lifting the inclusive program to ever greater heights. This was also the first day of the playoff bracket for Leo and Ashten’s squad, who earned the number four seed, facing Colorado/Vancouver/Memphis/Kentucky. After a tight game, the squad suffered a crushing defeat.

Shanny’s team put up a valiant effort against the number one team from Philadelphia/Boston in the bronze medal match later that day.
Sadly, they were unable to come away with a medal, but their persistence, sportsmanship, and camaraderie were extremely commendable.

The closing party in Tucson concluded a week of passion, competition, and teambuilding, giving competitors the opportunity to hang out, talk, and eat with fellow athletes from other delegations.

Onward to the 2026 JCC Maccabi Games & Access in Kansas City, Kansas! To support our local Maccabi TeamVB go to JewishVA.org

Oliver Scolnick.

Tamir Zach, Tal Zach, Hila Zach, Shanny Zach, Lauren Karp Scolnick, Oliver Scolnick, Brigitte Bryant Gottlieb, Tom Edwards, Leo Gottlieb, Ashten Konikoff.

Leo Gottlieb and Ashten Konikoff.

JCC Youth Basketball “Hoop It Up” at ODU

Tom Purcell — Thu, 29 Feb 2024 21:41:07 +0000

Old Dominion University’s basketball game on Thursday, Feb. 22 featured the Simon Family JCC Youth Basketball League during halftime. The popular JCC basketball youth league, now more than 60 years old, played on the ODU home court to an entertained crowd that cheered with every play. The kids hustled up and down the court giving their all. When a basket was made, the crowd went wild – sounding even louder than during the college game itself. The JCC kids put on a good show and most importantly had fun.

The Simon Family JCC has a rich tradition with area basketball going all the way back to when the Virginia Squires (former professional ABA team) used the JCC on Newport Avenue as a practice facility in the early 1970s. The Virginia Squires had some great Hall of Fame legands such as Julius “Dr. J” Erving and George “Iceman” Gervin.

On any basketball practice or game day at the Simon Family JCC, there might be a future star in the making. The evening of Feb. 22, however, they were ALL Stars.