Israeli Basketball Season Ends Abruptly Due to Strike

 The Israeli Basketball season is over. Despite having one game left in its 2017-18 regular season, the Winner League has announced an end to its season due to a player strike.

The League Board of Directors met on May 24th with the hopes of negotiating with the players’ union in order to resume the games. In the end, the all proposals were rejected by the players.

The strike was precipitated by an upcoming change in the rules in Israel Winner League. Previously, the league had been adopting what was called the “Russian Rule,” where each team is required to have at least two Israeli players on the court at the same time. A change lifting this requirement was expected to have a negative impact on Israeli players due to a potential reduction in playing time and value for the team. This rule change has been the main sticking point towards a resolution.

As things stand right now, with neither side willing to budge on the issue, it appears that the 2017-18 Israeli basketball season is done.