Israelis Took Out Their Rage for David Blatt's Firing on LeBron James's Social Media Pages. A Lot Was Lost in Translation.
When the Cleveland Cavaliers fired David Blatt as their head coach, Israelis took to the Internet to express their outrage. The former coach of perennial champion Maccabi Tel Aviv, and the national basketball team, Blatt is so much of a hero back home that when he shepherded his team to the NBA finals last year the prime minister himself called to offer the coach his congratulations. Blatt’s dismissal, then, particularly in the midst of a pretty good season for the Cavs, is seen by most Israelis as a slap in the face. And when Israelis are slapped in the face, they don’t take it too well.
Almost immediately, hordes of angry Israelis found their way to Lebron James’s Instagram account—the Cleveland superstar is widely believed in Israel to be the author of Blatt’s misfortuneReaand began cursing him out. Writing in Hebrew, more than a few greeted James with a koos achotcha, a popular Israeli phrase, borrowed from Arabic, referring to Lebron’s sister’s nether parts.