WFAN radio host Craig Carton lashed out at filmmaker Spike Lee, accusing him of crossing a line during the NBA All-Star Game.
On his daily show Monday, Carton called for Lee to be banned from all NBA arenas after the director appeared courtside wearing a Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) flag while Israeli-born star Deni Avdija was making history.
“Spike Lee should be banned from every basketball game for the rest of his life," Carton said in a clip shared on social media. “The fact that Spike Lee would protest the fact that an Israeli-born player made it to the All-Star game... The player’s not political, the player’s just playing basketball. There’s no place for this."
The controversy erupted during the 2026 NBA All-Star Weekend at the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles. Lee, a well-known New York Knicks fan, appeared courtside wearing a bag adorned with the PLO flag. The timing of the attire was particularly sensitive as Avdija, a forward for the Portland Trail Blazers, became the first Israeli-born player to ever participate in the prestigious All-Star game.
Carton slammed the NBA for allowing the display, which many critics view as a deliberate attempt to overshadow Avdija’s milestone achievement.
“But for the NBA to open up their doors and front-row service to a despicable human being and allow him to make this Israeli-born player feel bad, he shouldn’t be allowed in Madison Square Garden," Carton stressed. “He shouldn’t be allowed in another NBA arena for a long time."
While Avdija’s participation was a moment of national pride for Israel, critics have condemned Lee for bringing divisive politics into the arena. Lee has not addressed his choice of attire publicly.
Meanwhile, Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James came under fire for expressing a desire to visit Israel in the future during his media scrum at the All-Star Game.
Speaking before Sunday’s game, James was asked by an Israeli reporter about Avdija, to which he responded, “I said I believe he was an All-Star. He’s playing exceptional basketball. So that’s that."
His praise for Avdija then shifted to Israel when James said, “If I have fans over there - I’ve never been there - I hope you’ve been following my career. I hope I inspire people over there to not only want to be great at sports but be better in general in life. Hopefully someday I could make it over there. Like I said, I’ve never been over there, but I heard nothing but great things."
The comments were quickly met with criticism on social media. British-American commentator Mehdi Hasan expressed his disapproval on Twitter, writing, “What a disgrace LeBron is," while reposting a message from Al Jazeera journalist Laila Al-Arian who wrote, “The entire human rights community: Israel is an apartheid state committing genocide and ethnic cleansing. LeBron James: ‘I’ve heard great things about Israel.’"
Other social media users accused James of disregarding “Palestinian Arab suffering" and suggested that his praise for Israel was inappropriate, given the ongoing conflict in the region.
James has yet to respond to the criticism.