2024–25 Israeli Basketball Premier League

The 2024–25 season featured fourteen teams.[1] The planned regular season consisted of two rounds and 26 games per team, with the top six clubs qualifying directly for the playoffs.[1] Teams finishing seventh through tenth were required to compete in a play-in round to determine two additional quarterfinalists, while the four teams finishing eleventh through fourteenth entered a two-round, six-game lower-group phase to settle relegation.[1]

The six direct quarterfinalists were Maccabi Tel Aviv, Hapoel Tel Aviv, Hapoel Jerusalem, Bnei Herzliya, Hapoel Holon, and Maccabi Ironi Ramat Gan.[1][5] Reports differed on which team led the regular season: one account listed Maccabi Tel Aviv as the first-place finisher, while Hapoel Tel Aviv coach Dimitrios Itoudis said his team had the best record "on the court" but that a point deduction had cost it the top position.[2][6] The reports did not reconcile these descriptions or explain the deduction in detail.

The playoff quarterfinals began on May 2, 2025, with the eight entrants seeded first against eighth, second against seventh, and so on.[5] All quarterfinal series were contested as best-of-five matchups.[5] The pairings were Maccabi Tel Aviv versus Ironi Ness Ziona, Hapoel Tel Aviv versus Hapoel Gilboa/Galil, Hapoel Jerusalem versus Maccabi Ironi Ramat Gan, and Bnei Herzliya versus Hapoel Holon.[5]

Maccabi Tel Aviv swept Ironi Ness Ziona 3–0, while Hapoel Jerusalem swept Maccabi Ramat Gan 3–0.[7] Hapoel Tel Aviv eliminated Hapoel Gilboa/Galil 3–0, clinching the series with an 86–72 home win in which Antonio Blakeney scored 17 points and Omer Blayzer added 14.[8] Hapoel Holon led Bnei Herzliya 2–0, but Herzliya won Game 3 at home 94–86 and later leveled the series at 2–2. Holon took the deciding fifth game 83–81 to advance.[7][9]

The semifinals were best-of-three series.[5] Maccabi Tel Aviv dispatched Hapoel Holon in two games, winning the second on May 30 by a score of 85–73 away from home to complete the sweep.[10] The victory secured Maccabi's third consecutive appearance in the playoff final.[10]

Hapoel Jerusalem lost the opening game of its semifinal against Hapoel Tel Aviv but forced a deciding third contest.[11] In Game 3, played away, Jerusalem trailed by 16 points in the third quarter before staging a comeback.[11] Jared Harper sealed an 86–83 victory with a three-pointer one second before the final buzzer, giving Jerusalem a 2–1 series win.[11] Jerusalem thereby became one of only 13 teams in playoff history to recover from a 1–0 deficit in a best-of-three series.[11]

The championship final between Maccabi Tel Aviv and Hapoel Jerusalem was scheduled as a best-of-three series.[6] Maccabi entered the final having already won the preseason Winner Cup and the Israel State Cup that season.[2]

In Game 1, Maccabi Tel Aviv overcame a double-digit deficit to defeat Hapoel Jerusalem 91–88.[12] Jaylen Hoard led Maccabi with 18 points, while Tamir Blatt and Roman Sorkin each contributed 14; Jared Harper paced Jerusalem with 19.[12] Blatt's late three-pointer and free throws helped close out the win.[12]

Hapoel Jerusalem leveled the series in Game 2, winning 77–74 in overtime.[13] Harper led all scorers with 26 points, and Khadeen Carrington helped orchestrate the alley-oop that forced the extra period.[13] Game 3 was scheduled for Sunday night at Menora Mivtachim Arena, also known as Yad Eliyahu.[13]

Game 3 was indefinitely postponed after Iranian missile attacks and new Home Front Command safety guidelines prevented the contest from being held as scheduled.[13] Options discussed included postponing the game, relocating it to another venue, playing without spectators, or declaring both finalists co-champions.[13][14]

On June 16, 2025, the league announced that its Executive Committee had unanimously decided to end the season without a champion.[3][14] Daily Iranian missile fire, Home Front Command restrictions, player objections to competing while their safety was at risk, and the departure of Maccabi Tel Aviv's foreign players through Jordan made completion impracticable.[3] The committee maintained that the championship had to be decided on the court and declined to name a winner when the final game could not be played.[4] Joint champions had never previously been declared in the competition.[2]

Maccabi Tel Aviv objected publicly to the no-champion outcome and said it had proposed naming both finalists joint champions.[2] The club argued that the committee's decision failed to uphold basic sporting principles.[2] Hapoel Jerusalem had publicly favored completing the deciding game on the court.[4]

Contemporary reports also differed in their descriptions of the regular-season leader. One listed Maccabi Tel Aviv as the first-place finisher, while Hapoel Tel Aviv coach Dimitrios Itoudis maintained that his team had the best on-court record but lost the top position because of a point deduction.[2][6] The available reports did not fully explain or reconcile the discrepancy.