Wednesday, July 28th, 2010 at 10:54 am  |  115 responses

Amar’e Stoudemire Finds Out He’s Jewish; Arrives In Israel

Believe us, we couldn’t make this story up. Amar’e tweeted an hour ago that he’s already arrived in Jerusalem. From Haaretz: “U.S. Basketball star Amar’e Stoudemire is apparently on his way to Israel for a voyage of discovery after learning he has Jewish roots. ‘On the flight to Israel. This is going to be a great trip,’ announced the power forward, who plays in the NBA for the New York Knicks, via the micro-blogging site Twitter. According to an Army Radio report, Stoudemire plans to spend time in Israel learning Hebrew, having recently learned he has a Jewish mother. ‘The holy land. Learn about it,’ he wrote, adding ‘ze ha’halom sheli’ – Hebrew for ‘this is my dream’. News of Stoudemire’s trip quickly had Israeli basketball fans buzzing with speculation that they might one day see him playing alongside another Jewish NBA star, Israel’s Omri Caspi, on the national team.”

  • Add a Comment
  • Share
  • RSS

Tags: ,

Newer Comments →
  • T-Money

    Why is this a crazy story?

  • diego

    oh noooooooo another one in the world

  • Silent Storm

    Black Jesus?

  • Sam

    WOO HOO!!!! Amare is a jew!!! Good news for us!!!! WHATUP JEWS!!!!

  • http://albayanos.com LeoneL

    ^ Beat me to it.

  • http://albayanos.com LeoneL

    I meant silent storm.

  • http://www.slamonline.com/ niQ

    I could be wrong but, I guess this means Omri Casspi was not the first Israeli in the NBA…

  • Jer Boi

    Jewish roots is one thing. Being Jewish or any religion is not something you find out. It’s ones own choice.

  • http://thekobebeef.wordpress.com LDR4

    Since he has that “Black Jesus” tattoo does this make him king of the black Jews? Well, he lived in Arizona and then in New York…whats next? Florida? (Sorry, I couldn’t help myself.) Maybe Henry Louis Gates Jr. will have Amare on his next program…I’d watch that.

  • http://www.slamonline.com BackInBlack

    It makes him black jewsus

  • diego

    SO HE IS GOING TO START CHEATING ON PEOPLE

  • http://twitter.com/jew94 the005Jew

    A) niQ: Casspi is still the first israeli in the NBA
    B) it’s not “army radio”, it’s “Galay Tzahal” (the (radio) waves of the IDF)

  • Ronald

    Wait. Does he have Jewish practicing family, or is he from Israeli? Aren’t they different things?

  • JTaylor21

    The Jews can’t protect their homeland just like amare can’t protect the rim.

  • http://sdfjklf.com Jukai

    L’Chaim Amare! Let’s break matza together on Passover next year!

  • snasty10

    i posteed this link on my jewish friends wall, and he’s quite pumped, about to buy himself an amare jersey

  • unrel

    Adam Sandler is going to have to make a remix..

  • snasty10

    jew york knicks?

  • pk

    he was born to a jewish mother which means he’s a jew according to jewish law.
    no he is not israeli. he obviously wasn’t born in Israel. Omri was.
    he just happens to be part of the tribe and just found out about it.
    judaism is not just a religion, its culture and tradition as well.

  • Bryan

    amare’s contract just doubled

  • doobie

    sa-friggin-babah…

    way to rep amare.

  • Klemperer

    Cosign Jer Boi

  • Yesse

    niQ, actually i think Jordan Farmar is the first jewish player in the Nba. I’m not sure was he born in Israel, though.

  • Adrian Zapata

    LDR4 – i think he played HS ball in Florida if i am not mistaken.

  • The Philosopher

    Jordan Farmar is Jewish.
    He was born in L.A., but his mother is Jewish.

  • http://sdfjklf.com Jukai

    Yesse: and you’d be wrong. The legendary Dolph Schayes was Jewish.

  • funkdoc

    I wonder if Oliver Stone has an opinion on this.

  • Czarkazem13

    Jordan Farmar is the first Jew in the NBA since Danny Schayes (sone of legend ‘Dolf Schayes). Jews used to dominate basketball and much of the modern game is based on their style (“Jewball”).

    Omri Casspi is the first Israeli to play in the NBA (though the fourth to be drafted: Doron Sheffer, Lior Eliyahu and Yotam Halperin; of note Oded Katache, whom many see as the greatest Israeli baller, was about to be signed by the Knicks but the strike happened and he would later have a career ending injury).

    And Israel has a better defense then Amare does (it’s her offense that has been struggling).

    Also, Judaism is a religiong – a national religion to be precised, meaning dominated by one ethnic group). This makes it also a culture and ethnicity. While Christianity and Islam, both internation religions, mostly sread through conversion (forced or not), while Jews through mixing.

    Hope this answers some of ya’lls questions.

  • Sammy G

    @ Funkdoc: I was wonderin’ if Mel Gibson had a opinion on it.

  • http://www.bulls.com Enigmatic

    So his crazy mom who’s been in and out of jail his whole life is jewish? And he didn’t know about it? Hmm…guess he didn’t spend much time with her in betweeen jail sentences.

  • ktokyo

    Mel Gibson just sh*t himself.

  • http://www.slamonline.com/ niQ

    Oo right. My bad.

  • http://www.slamonline.com Eboy

    Oy Vey!!!!!

  • O

    I guess Mel Gibson would consider Amare a two-time loser now..

  • AL

    this explains why he left for more money..

  • http://www.slamonline.com doyouwantmore

    Israel has been protecting their homeland way better than Amare protects the rim.

  • http://www.slamonline.com doyouwantmore

    I can’t believe people will accuse you of racism for supporting tea partiers or calling Barack Obama an obvious amateur, but any mention of Israel at all and SLAM just lets people post anti-semitic and overtly racist jokes. Like Al right above and several others.

  • http://www.slamonline.com doyouwantmore

    Just like other media, SLAM won’t let you be raci$t against anyone but people associated with Israel. Then it’s okay.

  • Brandon

    How ironic is it that Amares twiter account reads “AmareISREAL”… just switch the E and A in real and u got Amare-Israel….HA!

  • Ash

    i hate saying this but a Black Jew must have the most oppressed roots ever

  • D12FSU

    as a jewish man with an israeli mother, this is pretty cool…now my people can form a 3-3 team of Farmar, Casspi and Amare…that beats miami’s big 3 any day!!

  • Bob

    White power freaks will have a feild day

  • Jason

    It should be noted, that while Jordan Farmar is indeed a Jew, hes been quoted as saying he doesn’t want to be a role model for Jewish kids, and doesn’t identify himself as a Jew. Another fun fact, Taylor Mays, former Safety of USC and now in the NFL is also Jewish and strongly identifies himself with his Jewish ties.

  • http://www.shawnkemp.com brotherwithwisdom

    congrats to amare for discovering more about hisself and his roots

  • total scrotal implosion

    So, how is his black mother jewish? Doesnt make sense. Maybe hes from the lost tribe of judah. Iron lion zion!

  • Knowsitall

    JFarms mom isn’t Jewish, it’s his stepdad!!

  • total scrotal implosion

    Irgun and stern gangs. Research history, its not as clear cut as they say

  • total scrotal implosion

    Also, odd how the so called ‘holy land’ is the site of quite possibly the most violence, murder, and war in human history.

  • http://twitter.com/dyalektraps d.Y.

    yessss. I was tired of only having Lenny Kravitz & Slash as role models.

  • http://sdfjklf.com Jukai

    I don’t mind the cheap jokes or Gibson jokes, but the stuff that diego spouts is really just not needed.

Newer Comments →
Advertisement