http://sports.espn.go.com/new-york/n...ory?id=5423084
Stoudemire to explore his 'Hebrew roots'
JERUSALEM -- Amare Stoudemire already knows some Hebrew phrases and sports a Star of David tattoo. Now he's come to Israel to explore what might be his Jewish heritage.
The five-time NBA All-Star who recently signed with the New York Knicks is on a weeklong visit to learn about Israel, its language and religions. He believes he has "Hebrew roots" through his mother, Carrie.
"She studied the Scriptures and history and she believes she is a Hebrew," he told The Associated Press Friday in Jerusalem. "I grew up in a very spiritual home. It's not about religion, it's about spirituality for me."
“Stoudemire said he was "soaking up the culture" with his girlfriend and a few other friends from home.I grew up in a very spiritual home. It's not about religion, it's about spirituality for me.
” -- Amare Stoudemire
He has long suspected his Jewish lineage -- Judaism is passed down through the mother's side. Stoudemire's agent, Happy Walters, said his client is a "student of history" and is "exploring religions in general."
He added that Stoudemire may turn to a genealogist when he returns to New York to dig deeper.
The 6-foot-10 forward signed a five-year, $100 million contract with the Knicks three weeks ago. He will now be playing in the city with the largest Jewish population in the United States.
The NBA features two Jewish players: Israeli Omri Casspi of the Sacramento Kings and Jordan Farmar of the New Jersey Nets. When Farmar joined the Los Angeles Lakers in 2006, he became the NBA's first Jewish player since Danny Schayes -- son of Hall of Famer Dolph Schayes -- retired in 1999.
Stoudemire said he's spoken to Casspi a few times about Judaism, "but we didn't go into details about it."
Stoudemire has begun studying Hebrew and his Twitter page features such words as "Shalom," "Le'chayim" and "ze ha'halom sheli," Hebrew for "this is my dream."
"It's great," he said. "Hebrew is the original language."
On Twitter, he also called himself "the new Reggie White," saying "I'm going 2 Israel 2 study Hebrew. It's time 2 get a better understanding on who we R."
White, the late NFL star who was an ordained minister, traveled to Israel late in his life and studied Hebrew to learn Scripture in its original form.
Stoudemire spent his first eight NBA seasons with the Phoenix Suns, where he won the 2003 Rookie of the Year award and became one of the league's dominant players. Now, his possible Jewish ties have stirred interest in Israel, with bloggers dreaming he could one day join the Israeli national team.
Stoudemire, however, laughed that off.
"I'm looking forward to playing in the 2012 Olympics," he said. "For the USA."
Amare is a gangsta...he knows that Jews rule the world by proxy...and there's plenty in NY...if the Jews are on his side then who can possibly be against him. ty play and all...well played Amare....well played....
his nose is bout as wide as the Jordan river...but it I'm a believer the is Jewish...
Yeah it seems like the guy is finally growing up and figuring out how to stop being immature and acting like a man, unfortunately Phoenix isn't gonna reap the benefits of it.
there's nothing indicating that he has Jewish blood though his mom. it says it's suspected or believed he has Jewish lineage through her, then it says she's read scripture ... okay. that's cool ... his mom's a drunk ass ... that's all that's all we really know about her.
and it doesn't make any difference to me whether he's a Jew or not. he's a damn moron is what he is.
Wow, mingus is going hard with his hate..
you seem pretty pissed off at the notion that he might be
i dont have any personal hate towards Amare. he's still a moron.
i dont give a . if he's a jew - fine.
let's see how long this holds up when he finds out he can't eat bacon
i'm more pissed off right now that i've been waiting for a long time for someone to bring me a milkshake and it's obviously implicating the way i post. lmao
tbh only religious Jews keep kosher
racism is dead, bro.
TBH i dont even think Amare is sleeveless
i'm a jew, bro.
tmi dude, damn
that's neat.
Mingus is a nazi
Could be awkward with that "Black Jesus" tattoo... Wear turtlenecks!
If Amare can convince peeps he's Jewish, he's going to earn more in endorsements than anyone in the NBA.
Seriously.
Mingus hates black people and doesn't want them to be Jews imo
The black slaves that came from west Africa practice Hebrewism in the Ashanti tribal custom. So Amare checking to see that he have Hebrew roots is not far-fetch.
Welcome to the club of the chosen people, Amare.
It sucks he's gonna play for America. The American team doesn't (well they shouldn't anyway) really need him for the 2012 Olympics, but if you put him and Omri Casspi on the Israeli team in 2012 that's a respectable team. Since he wouldn't play for America there's a small chance Anthony Parker would consider playing for Israel since he's the Tel Aviv Macabi's GOAT.
Sons I've been to a Tel Aviv game once. They used to practically give away tickets to their games when I was in elementary school.
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