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8 Amazing Jewish NBA Players You Need To Know About

JL;DR SUMMARY Exploring the history and current presence of Jewish players in basketball, this article highlights the incredible contributions of Jewish athletes, both in the NBA and WNBA. A way out west there was a fella, fella I want to tell you about, fella by the name of Jeff Lebowski. At least, that was the handle his lovin' parents gave him, but he never had much use for it himself. This Lebowski, he called himself the Dude. Now, Dude, that's a name no one would self-apply where I come from. But then, there was a lot about the Dude that didn't make a whole lot of sense to me. And a lot about where he lived, likewise. But then again, maybe that's why I found the place s'durned innarestin'.

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Tags

Jewish AthletesNbaAmare StoudemireWnbaOmri CasspiErnie GrunfeldSue BirdDolph SchayesNancy LiebermanJewish History In Sports

Places mentioned

New York, United States
"the sport, which is easy to play without too much of a financial investment (all you really needed to bring with you was a ball), was extremely popular among the Jews of New York (on the Lower East Side, especially)."
Bronx, New York, United States
"The son of Jewish Romanian immigrants, he grew up in a working-class family in the Bronx, and began playing basketball professionally as a teen with NYU."
Syosset, New York, United States
"Bird, the daughter of a Jewish father and non-Jewish mother, grew up in Syosset, New York (she went to high school with Natalie Portman!) and fell in love with the game while watching the Knicks play, of course."
Tel Aviv, Tel Aviv District, Israel
"Deni Avdija started his very, very promising career in Maccabi Tel Aviv, and then got drafted to the Washington Wizards only to be traded onto the Trail Blazers in 2024."
Holon, Tel Aviv District, Israel
"the player from Holon who made history as the first Israeli to become a first draft pick in the NBA and to play an NBA game."
Romania
"The son of Jewish Romanian immigrants, he grew up in a working-class family in the Bronx, and began playing basketball professionally as a teen with NYU."

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Cairo Item ID 84186
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Retrieved 2026-06-06 05:31:05 UTC
Curated 2026-06-06 08:31:19 UTC