Updates
Wed, Nov 9th 2011, 17:24
Farmar shining while playing in Israel during NBA lockout
As the NBA lockout drags on — and with players and owners seemingly worlds apart — there’s some NBA action going on overseas.
The Euroleague has attracted a handful of NBA players despite the unresolved labor dispute in the U.S., which can make playing overseas a bit complicated.
Jordan Farmar, just 24 years old, has an impressive basketball resume. He was a high school super star in California. He took UCLA to the Final Four. He won two NBA championships with his hometown team, the Los Angeles Lakers, before being shipped out to New Jersey.
In Israel, the 6-foot-2-inch point guard lingers on the court for a while to shoot a few extra dozen outside jump shots as he finishes practice with his new team. Maccabi Tel Aviv is Israel’s most storied pro-basketball franchise, founded in the 1930s. For Farmar, though, the idea of playing for Maccabi is relatively new.
“I guess it started with the NBA lockout. Basketball is how I make my living and support my family. And with the NBA being locked out and us not being able to go to work, I had to find other means,” he said. “The other option was to sit at home and kind of wait around. So, I figured I would try to play at a high level and stay sharp, and get a different life experience in the meantime.”
Farmar has personal connections to Israel. He is one of a tiny handful of NBA players who are Jewish.
“My stepfather was born in Tel Aviv. He raised me in Los Angeles and that’s kind of where the connections began.”
So, it’s a match made in heaven – the Jewish NBA champ joins forces with the Israeli champions. But the arrangement also has risks.
Maccabi Nation is notoriously demanding. And everyone knows their new starting point guard could be gone any day. If the NBA lockout ends, Farmar is under contract with the New Jersey Nets, and would have to say goodbye to Tel Aviv.