‘The Jewish Jordan’ visits basketball-crazy Kansas

Tamir Goodman, once nicknamed “the Jewish Jordan” for his Baltimore schoolboy basketball prowess, visited the Mecca of Midwestern basketball, the University of Kansas, for the first time Monday.

Goodman was a guest of the Chabad of KU, whose Rabbi Zalman Teichtel said he worked for months to bring for observant Jewish athlete to the KU campus.

“Our students for a long time wanted to do something with the broad KU community, and in Tamir we found an individual who is a basketball professional, and who also brings a message and has a way of reaching hearts and minds.”

Goodman, whose college career never lived up to his high school hype (Sports Illustrated put the “Jewish Jordan” tag on him), and whose pro career was shortened by injuries, announced his retirement from the Maccabi Haifa Heat in Israel’s Premiere League just one month ago.

Since then, the 27-year-old told The Chronicle, he’s been on the road in the United States, promoting, speaking and coaching, as he did in Kansas Monday, under the sponsorship of the Heat’s corporate parent, Triangle Financial. It’s a two- or three-year gig, he said.

He fit in a visit to the Hyman Brand Hebrew Academy and The Jewish Chronicle before a full evening’s worth of appearances on the KU campus, including a basketball clinic at Robinson Gymnasium that involved both the historically Jewish fraternity ZBT and the Black Student Union.

Goodman says basketball can bring people of all different races and religions together.

“It’s always been about more than just basketball for me,” Goodman said. “I tried to be the best I could be, not necessarily for myself, but as a way to spread Jewish pride. My greatest pride was showing you could be a great player in a kippah, and not play on Shabbos. That’s what I fought for my whole career.”

Goodman says he’s content now to travel, spreading the gospel (you should forgive the expression) of basketball and mitzvot.

“It’s everything I wanted to do,” Goodman said. “Everyone has a mission.”

Trackback(0)

TrackBack URI for this entry

Comments (0)

Write comment