A rumour that Russell Westbrook might be in advanced talks with an Israeli basketball club took social media by storm. It’s time to check if there is any truth to this.
In this day and age, no internet rumour can be trusted. Social media is rife with parody accounts just waiting to trick gullible fans into believing extremely outlandish rumours.
Russell Westbrook is currently without an NBA team for the 2026-27 season. Having spent last year with the Sacramento Kings, there’s no telling where he might play in the future, if at all.
On Tuesday, a report went viral that suggested the former MVP was in ‘advanced talks’ with Israeli basketball club Hapoel Tel Aviv. Turns out, the real story is a little different.
Photo by Don Collier/Getty ImagesRussell Westbrook and Hapoel Tel Aviv are not in talks, say multiple NBA insidersThe original viral post claiming that Westbrook and Hapoel are in advanced talks came from the Jerusalem Post on social media platform X.
Fans were quick to react in various ways. Some lamented Russ’ departure from the NBA, others wanted to mock the former MVP for having to play outside the biggest league in the world.
However, soon after, one NBA account shared a screenshot related to the source cited in the article. It seems that the Jerusalem Post themselves had been taken in by a parody account.
Finally, NBA insider Brett Siegel was among those who looked into the matter, and he also cleared it up on social media, confirming that there is no information regarding this.
“Amid rumors surrounding Russell Westbrook potentially discussing a deal with Israel’s Hapoel Tel Aviv, I do not believe that to be true,” Siegel wrote on X.
“I’ve asked multiple people with different teams around the NBA if they’ve heard such and nobody has heard about this.
So it seems that the entire story is nothing but yet another social media hoax. Fans will be eager to see where Westbrook knows yet, but it doesn’t seem like that will be Israel, at least for the moment.
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