Goodman, with Maccabi Haifa team owner Jeff Rosen, announced his retirement from professional basketball at a Sept. 16 press conference. Goodman will direct the Haifa “Hoops for Kids” charity program, which provides tickets to underprivileged children in Israel.
Photos courtesy Marty Appel
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September 23, 2009
Tamir Goodman, the Orthodox basketball star who was dubbed “Jewish Jordan” by Sports Illustrated as a high schooler, has called it a career at the age of 27.
The announcement came at a press conference and fund-raiser at the Jewish Children’s Museum in Brooklyn.
Goodman played his final season with the Maccabi Haifa professional basketball team, which is owned by former West Orange resident Jeffrey Rosen, president of Triangle Financial Services, a sports and entertainment investment firm based in Aventura, Fla.
The hoops star may be done with “active duty,” but he will remain connected with the game as director of the Haifa Hoops for Kids charity program, an initiative spearheaded by Maccabi Haifa and United Jewish Communities of MetroWest NJ, which benefits underprivileged and special-needs children in Israel.
“Haifa Hoops for Kids is an innovative way to use basketball as a tool to bring light to the world, connect people to Israel, and create a stronger Israel for tomorrow,” Goodman said at the conference, which was attended by other high-profile Jewish athletes including former major leaguer Art Shamsky and undefeated junior welterweight Dmitriy Salita.
“Tamir’s dedication to Judaism, basketball, and Israel is a true inspiration to the Maccabi Haifa organization and the thousands of people he has spoken with over his career, and we look forward to his directing the Haifa Hoops for Kids program,” said Andrew Wilson, a spokesman for Triangle.
Goodman garnered national attention in 1998 while starring at the Talmudical Academy of Baltimore, where he averaged 35.4 points in his junior year and 24.6 points as a senior, leading his team to a 65-11 record over the two seasons. Sports Illustrated named him the 25th best high school player in the country.
As a Shabbat observer, he turned down a full scholarship at the University of Maryland due to scheduling conflicts and accepted a scholarship at Towson State University, where the American East Conference rearranged the basketball schedule so the majority of games would not interfere with Shabbat.
After two seasons at Towson, Goodman was signed by Maccabi Tel Aviv to begin his professional career in Israel. He played for four teams over five seasons, reaching the Israeli Cup finals and Israeli Premier League Semifinals in 2003 with Maccabi Givat Shmuel.
In 2007, Goodman became the first Orthodox Jewish basketball player to appear professionally both in the United States and Israel when he signed with the Maryland Nighthawks of the Premier Basketball League. He was limited to two games due to injuries, which continued to plague him last season with Maccabi Haifa.
Goodman resides in Cleveland, Ohio, with his wife, Judy, and their three children.
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