A pro basketball team in Iraq is owned by a paramilitary group, and some of its forces recently attacked U.S. troops. But this hostility toward Uncle Sam has its limits: The team is banking on a high-scoring American to help lead them to a championship.
Isaac Banks, an American basketball player with the Hashed al-Shaabi - the Popular Mobilization Forces - in the Iraqi Basketball Super League, takes part in a team practice in Baghdad, Iraq, Thursday, March 21, 2024. U.S. players are in high …BAGHDAD —
The U.S. has had a fraught relationship with Iraq since its invasion in 2003, which was followed by years of occupation. And that was before Iranian-backed forces within the group that owns Hashed attacked U.S. troops in the region. “I’m a pretty simple guy. I go to practice, and if I’m not practicing, I’m in my room. I hang out with my teammates, play video games, read books — the same old, same old,” he said during a break from practice. Nearby, a young boy walked through the aisles hawking strong Arabic coffee to the few spectators in attendance.
Hashed is owned by a coalition of primarily Shiite, Iran-backed forces that joined in the fight against the Islamic State militant group in 2014 after it seized large sections of Iraq. Two years later, the Iraqi government designated them as an “independent” unit of its army.
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