NEW YORK -- Thursday night, Yehu Orland was standing on the sidelines at Barclays Center, fulfilling his duties as head coach of Maccabi Ra'Anana's basketball team as it took on the Brooklyn Nets in a preseason game.
His heart, however, was several thousand miles away back in his native Israel, where earlier Thursday the funeral services were held for one of his best friends, Lt. Col. Eli Ginsburg, who died earlier this week fighting in Israel's war with Hamas.
"I lost one of my best friends," Orland said. "For me, it's a personal tragedy. But, for our country, it's everybody's tragedy.