New York Knicks forward Amare Stoudemire has been invited by the president of Israel to play for the country's national basketball team because of his ties to Judaism.
President Simon Peres met with Stoudemire on Thursday to discuss the players charity efforts. Stoudemire, who says he has "Hebrew roots," has traveled to Israel before and Peres urged him to help the national team.
"Since you have already achieved all the possible achievements elsewhere, I now urge you to join the Israeli National Team and be part of our country," Peres said, according to the Times of Israel.
Stoudemire has embraced his Jewish roots for some time now, and he said his not only has he been given an opportunity to "be a role model for children in Israel," but also an example to African-America Jews.
"I want to develop a mechanism for African-Americans to explore their Jewish roots through scripture," said Stoudemire, who practices various Jewish traditions and has a prominent Star of David tattoo.
The six-time NBA All-Star already has significant ties to Israeli basketball. Last month, he joined a group looking to buy Hapoel Jerusalem, a team in Israel's top league. Stoudemire is in Israel to coach the Canadian basketball team at the Maccabiah Games, a competition for Jewish athletes.
Stoudemire won a bronze medal with the United States at the 2004 Olympics but has not played for the national team since 2007.
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