Ex-NBA Player Amar’e Stoudemire: ‘When I’m Not Training, I Study Torah’
by Shiryn Ghermezian
Former NBA All-Star Amar’e Stoudemire makes Torah study part of his daily routine, he told The New York Times during a recent interview.
The ex-New York Knicks star, 35, told the publication during a recent visit to The Jewish Museum in Manhattan: “When I’m not training, I study Torah. Study, train, study, train, study, train, study. That’s life.” He added, “I study with elders, with rabbis, with everyone. I don’t limit myself.”
Stoudemire, who is the son of “Hebraic” parents, sometimes uses the biblical moniker Yehosaphat. He has been continuously involved in endeavors connected to Judaism and Israel, the New York Times noted. In 2014, he produced the documentary “Village of Peace,” which is about the community in Dimona, Israel. He calls his growing, private collection of art the Melech Collection, which makes use of the Hebrew word for “king,” and his latest acquisition is a 45-foot mural depicting the siege of Jerusalem’s Second Temple. Stoudemire also has a wine label, Stoudemire Cellars, that released a line of three kosher-for-Passover wines this year.
The basketball player left the NBA two years ago to play for the Israeli basketball team Hapoel Jerusalem. He has expressed hopes for a return to the NBA, but said in June that he might resume playing for an Israeli team if he could not make the comeback he desired.