By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
“Although I would have liked to return for another season, the team, coach and I could not find a role that I felt would allow me to meaningfully contribute in the way I have always been accustomed to play,” Stoudemire wrote in a farewell note on Instagram.
Stouremire retired from the NBA last summer to move to Jerusalem and join the team. It was a professional move for Stoudemire, but also a spiritual one. Stoudemire calls himself a Hebrew Israelite and views Israel as a sacred land that is his ancestral homeland. He is also part owner of Hapoel Jerusalem.
An Olympic bronze medal winner in 2004, he was also a six times NBA All-Star, the NBA rookie of the year in 2003 and he has played for the Phoenix Suns, New York Knicks, the Dallas MAvericks and the Miami Heat.