Mamas, Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Israeli Pro Basketball Players

It was a terrifying night for former Garfield and UW basketballer Tre Simmons, who's playing in Israel this year.

Israeli basketball fans are notoriously crazy, but the fans--or at least one fan--got a little too crazy yesterday at a contest between Holon (Simmons' team) and Jerusalem.

A Jerusalem fan (presumably) threw a firecracker at the Holon bench. An alert security guard who tried to pick the explosive up and toss it away got his hand blown off (here's a photo, not for the squeamish).

Obviously, a firecracker going off during a game in Israel is just a bit more terrifying than it would be during a game in America, and team officials aren't taking this lightly.

Says the Jerusalem team's chairman (this via True Hoop): "Hapoel Jerusalem will not play basketball again until those who are guilty are found, If we find out that the guilty party is a Hapoel fan, as far as I am concerned, the team will.be dismantled. I will quit. I told [Holon coach and owner Mickey] Dorfman that I would propose that he do the same."

So Tre Simmons--who was averaging 13.5 ppg--may soon be looking for a new job...though if we were him, we'd be looking for one anyway.

UPDATE: A Holon fan admitted to throwing the firecracker. And, after nine hours of surgery, doctors were able to reattach the three fingers that the security guard lost in the explosion. All here.