40 | NOVEMBER 17 • 2022 

‘A Personal Mission’

SPORTS

W

hen Nikki Wald began 
working in the Detroit 
Pistons’ ticket office in 
August 2021, she noticed a void in the 
club’s season promotion schedule at Little 
Caesars Arena.
It was a Jewish Heritage Night.
“Even when a Jewish Heritage Night 
had been held in the past, it wasn’t very 
organized,” Wald said.
Jewish Heritage Night is on the 
Pistons’ schedule now. And it’s organized.
Wald put together a Jewish Heritage 
Night last season. The group sales 
executive has done it again this season. 
It’s right there among the eight to 10 
similar heritage days on the Pistons’ 
schedule.
“I made organizing a Jewish Heritage 
Night a personal mission. I’m doing it 
for our Jewish community,” Wald said. 
“It’s especially important this season 
with what’s going on in the world (rise of 
antisemitism) these days.
“This isn’t the time for us as a Jewish 
community to stand down, but stand up 
and unite, and for the Detroit and Jewish 
communities to show what we stand for.”

Jewish Heritage Night will be Dec. 
4, when the Pistons face the Memphis 
Grizzlies in a 6 p.m. game.
Ticket packages start at $25. They 
include a Jewish Heritage Night 
giveaway.
Kosher food and beverages will be 
available as will chocolate Chanukah gelt 
and mini-menorahs, and Jewish Heritage 
Night ticket purchasers can take a post-
game free throw on the floor.
Students from Jewish schools will give 
high-fives to Pistons players as they enter 
the court and will be “anthem buddies,” 
standing with Pistons players for the 
national anthem.
It’s hoped that Ryan Turell, an 
Orthodox Jew drafted by the Motor City 
Cruise, the Pistons’ G League affiliate, 
will be available for autographs and 
photos (See story on page 36).
Also in the works for Jewish Heritage 
Night is a Dec. 4 game between Frankel 
Jewish Academy and Farber Hebrew Day 
School basketball teams at the Pistons’ 
practice facility.
To purchase Jewish Heritage Night 
tickets, go to fevo.me/jewishheritage 22.

To contact Wald for Jewish Heritage 
Night information or to purchase block 
seating for the game, send an email to 
nwald@pistons.com or call (313) 771-
0189.
Wald is a former North Farmington 
High School softball star who scored 
runs as a freshman and sophomore while 
playing for the University of Michigan 
softball team in the 2015 and 2016 
College World Series.
She played for U-M for four years. 

Send sports news to stevestein502004@yahoo.com.

Meet the group sales executive behind the
Detroit Pistons’ Jewish Heritage Night game

STEVE STEIN CONTRIBUTING WRITER

It will be Jewish 
Heritage Night at 
a Detroit Pistons 
game Dec. 4 at 
Little Caesars 
Arena.

PHOTOS COURTESY DETROIT PISTONS

Nikki 
Wald

Child's Name:______________________________________ Age:____________

Parents' Names: 
____________________________________________________

Address:__________________________________________________________

City: _____________________________State:_________Zip:_______________
_

Day Phone: ________________________
Evening Phone:___________________
_

Email:____________________________________________________________

School: __________________________ Religious School: __________________

SEND TO: The Detroit Jewish News – Attn. Jackie Headapohl | 32255 Northwestern Hwy. | Suite 205 | Farmington Hills, MI 48334

MATERIALS
Anything that shows up bold and bright.

(No pencils, light blue crayons or glitter, please! 
And no computer-generated artwork — must be 
handmade.)

SIZE
8½" X 11", vertical format

AGE CATEGORIES

Up to age 6, Ages 7-9, Ages 10-12

GRAND PRIZE
$100 and the cover of the December 15th, 
2022, issue of the The Detroit Jewish News.

OTHER PRIZES
First, second and third-place finishers in each 
category win $18.

REQUIREMENTS
A fully completed entry form (below) as well 
as a color photo of the artist must be taped 
to the back of the original artwork and sent 
to the address below by December 5th, 2022. 

(Only one entry per child.)

ENTRY
FORM