On a recent Friday afternoon, a few hours before the start of Shabbat, thousands of Jerusalemites made their way through the oppressive summer heat – and standstill traffic – to the city’s Pais Mivtachim Arena for a pivotal semifinal game between Hapoel Jerusalem and the Israeli Basketball Super League’s flagship team, Maccabi Tel Aviv. A few hours from the arena to the north and south, IDF soldiers continued to battle Islamic terror groups Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon, but inside, Hapoel fans cheered, chanted and sang passionately as their beloved team battled up and down the court. Even though Hapoel struggled to keep pace with Maccabi, the atmosphere in the fan’s stand was electric, with fans cheering wildly as the Jerusalem team mounted a second-half comeback before coming up short before the final buzzer. It was this unwavering support and thrilling environment, with the fans in red keeping up their chanting for the whole game, that drew Matan Adelson – youngest son of Miriam and Sheldon Adelson – to buy out the team’s previous owners a year ago and take on the unique challenge of turning Hapoel, which has all the charm of a community team, into the face of Israeli basketball and, he hopes, an international brand. Adelson, who moved to Israel three years ago, is no stranger to the world of professional basketball.