On October 3, 2023, Hapoel Tel Aviv opened its European basketball season in the EuroCup with a 100–73 home win over Slovenia’s Cedevita Ljubljana at the Drive-In arena. Two days later, Maccabi Tel Aviv began its EuroLeague season against Serbian side Partizan Belgrade, winning 96–81. It was a highly successful 48 hours of European basketball in Tel Aviv, drawing a total of 13,921 fans. None of them could have imagined that their team’s next home game in a European competition would take place two years and two months later.
