MELVILLE, New York — Former NBA all-star Amar’e Stoudemire started his professional career in 2002 with the Phoenix Suns, where he won the NBA Rookie of the Year honor. He later played for the New York Knicks, the Dallas Mavericks, and the Miami Heat. He retired from the NBA in 2016, and then played for Hapoel Jerusalem and most recently for Maccabi Tel Aviv, where he earned the Israeli Basketball Premier League Finals MVP honors. While living in Israel, Stoudemire began the process of converting to Judaism, which culminated in his final meeting with the Bet Din (the religious court) and a visit to the mikve (the ritual bath) in August 2020. For the last two years, Stoudemire has served as an assistant coach for player development with the Brooklyn Nets, but he just announced his resignation from that position. Why did he decide to leave that job?
A. Stoudemire announced that he would be making aliyah, moving permanently to Israel, where he is a part owner of the Hapoel Jerusalem Basketball Club.
B. Stoudemire had a number of conflicts with current Nets player Kylie Irving. Irving refused to be vaccinated against COVID, leading the Nets to bench him for much of the last season. While this was at the center of tension between Stoudemire and Irving, Stoudemire said that their relationship was complicated by the fact that Irving is a Muslim and Stoudemire is Jewish. Stoudemire said that it was best if he removed himself from this situation so that Irving can repair his relationship with team management.
C. Traditionally, after a Nets home victory, the team would go to dinner at Brooklyn’s historic Peter Luger Steakhouse. Stoudemire has transitioned to a kosher diet since his conversion, and he decided that his not eating at these get-togethers was bad for team morale.
D. Stoudemire said that his observance of Shabbat, the Jewish Sabbath, conflicted with his ability to do his job well, as he could not be available to the team on Friday nights and Saturdays.
E. A primary part of Stoudemire’s job of player development is to work with players on their basketball skills, in particular through scrimmages that Stoudemire would participate in. But as he became more religious, he decided that whenever he fouled another player, he needed to recite the Jewish prayers of forgiveness, including the “Al Cheyt” prayer stating, “And for the sin that we have sinned before You through wronging a neighbor.” Stoudemire found that because he committed so many fouls, he was spending too much time in prayer rather than helping the team members improve, so he turned in his resignation.