Maccabi Tel Aviv signed Amar’e Stoudemire until the end of the 2019/20 season and will be able to play in both the domestic Israeli league as an Israeli as well as the Euroleague.

Stoudemire played in a China between October and December for the Fujian Sturgens and last season he featured for Hapoel Jerusalem.

“I’m very happy that we signed Amar’e and this is a player that will help us in the Israeli league and the Euroleague,” said Coach Ioannis Sfairopoulos. “I’m speechless because everyone knows his big career and his quality.”

“We signed Stoudemire now because we waited to see what would happen to Omri Casspi. The final decision for the surgery was made 2-3 days ago. Now that he’s out for the rest of the season we signed Amar’e.”

Yehoshaphat which is Stoudemire’s Hebrew name told the official Maccabi Tel Aviv website, “I am very humble for the opportunity, happy to be in Israel, the place that I love. I have a chance to play in the highest level in Europe, which is a dream come true.”

STAT was born on November 16th 1982 in Florida and bypassed college basketball to head directly to the 2002 NBA Draft where he was selected 9th by the Phoenix Suns. The big man was named the NBA Rookie of the Year in his first season with the Suns over Chinese standout Yao Ming. In addition to Phoenix, Stoudemire played for the New York Knicks, the Dallas Mavericks and the Miami Heat.

Stoudemire received Israeli citizenship in March of 2019 and played for Hapoel Jerusalem in the 2016/17 season and won the Israeli league championship while also featuring for the Reds in the 2018/19 campaign.