Kyle Kuzma at the 79th Cannes Film Festival amfAR red carpet at the Eden Roc Hotel in France on May 21, 2026. Photo: SGP/Sipa USA via Reuters Connect

NBA player Kyle Kuzma criticized New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani on Sunday in response to the latter’s empty threat that he would arrest Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu when the Israeli leader visits Manhattan in September for the United Nations General Assembly.

The International Criminal Court (ICC), which is not recognized by the US, issued an arrest warrant for Netanyahu in 2024 for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Gaza Strip. Mamdani vowed during his election campaign last year that if elected, he would arrest Netanyahu when the prime minister came to New York. However, in a video message last week, the socialist mayor admitted that he in fact has no authority to arrest the Israeli premier.

“This is 2026. People cosplaying as things they don’t have the authority, the talent, or the track record to actually be. Just for content. A mayor playing president. A founder playing operator,” Kuzma, 31, wrote in a post on X, in reply to Mamdani’s video statement. “A content creator playing one-on-one thinking he’s a pro. A 25yr old with a ring light playing economist. Everyone auditioning. Nobody building.”

“Were [sic] raising a generation that learning the reward isn’t in doing the thing it’s in looking like you did the thing,” added the Milwaukee Bucks forward. “The clip is the career. The pose is the product. The soundbite is the substitute for a life’s work. Don’t fall for distractions.”

Kuzma, who is not Jewish, is a former teammate and friend of Israeli NBA player Deni Avdija. They attended a Jewish wedding together in May and Kuzma also publicly expressed support for Israel after the deadly Hamas-led terrorist attack in the country on Oct. 7. 2023.

Later on Sunday, Kuzma defended himself against social media users who criticized him for attacking Mamdani and his fake threat. The NBA player said X “is for conversation, and in today’s age, you cannot have a conversation without being attacked if people don’t agree with what you are saying.”

“Exactly, problems in society, or at least here on X, are cooked. But somehow, I am a Zionist because I’m pointing out things that are happening in front of everyone’s face, but hey, that’s okay,” he noted.

In his video statement last week, Mamdani began by calling Netanyahu a “war criminal” for Israel’s military actions in the Gaza Strip. He then said his administration reviewed  “every avenue available under applicable law” but ultimately determined they do not have the legal authority to arrest Netanyahu when he visits New York. “Benjamin Netanyahu is not welcome in New York City, nor is any other war criminal at large,” Mamdani concluded by saying.

The mayor shared the video a day after US President Donald Trump said Netanyahu “will not be arrested, in any way, shape, or form, while in the United States of America.”