By Trey Kerby
The summer of 2010 was very important in the NBA. Players have been switching teams, a new collective bargaining agreement is being debated, and there will be a massive international competition starting in a couple weeks among other little — but still vital — happenings around the league. But perhaps the most peculiar of all the little things is the embrace of Judaism taking place among the NBA’s elite.
First, it was Amar’e Stoudemire(notes) traveling to Israel trying to research and explore his Hebrew roots. Now, it’s LeBron James(notes), hiring a rabbi to help him with business deals. Or something like that. From TMZ:
Sources involved with the meeting tell us LeBron had hired Rabbi Pinto for spiritual guidance for a “big merchandising meeting” that took place on a private yacht somewhere off the coast of NY just hours ago.
Rabbi Pinto — a 37 year-old-man who speaks only Hebrew — has met with all sorts of business moguls in the past … and is considered by some to be a “spiritual guide” who consults on business matters.
We’re told LeBron paid in the neighborhood of 6-figures to get Rabbi Pinto to sit in on today’s meeting … in which LeBron heard presentations from several “big time” retail execs.
OK. That’s really all I can muster at anything LeBron James does at this point — OK. This has happened and it is a real-life thing now and that is all because trying to really figure this out would be a brain-buster. Neato, gang.
I mean, of course LeBron James would spend hundreds of thousands of dollars for an advisor who speaks only Hebrew to consult on business affairs. For a guy who studies in a room full of VitaminWater and eats custom cakes in the middle of Las Vegas nightclubs, this makes a lot of sense. As long as this doesn’t turn into a Hyman Roth situation down in Miami, everything is copacetic.
They say three is a trend, so now all we need is a third NBA superstar to do anything involving anything Jewish. I’m putting my money on Chris Bosh praising the health benefits of kugel. He seems to like to hop on whatever fad he can.
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