SPORTS ILLUSTRATED
by Howard Megdal
March 11, 2015

An Orthodox Jewish basketball player came to Brooklyn. You’d think this would occasion a parade, thousands of people in the seats, perhaps an impromptu hora. But a relatively sparse crowd showed up for Tulane‘s Dec. 28 matchup against St. John’s at Barclays Center. Those who waited in line at David K’s, the glatt Kosher proprietor, were mostly unaware of Aaron Liberman, Tulane’s center with the winding path to the Green Wave, though the UnderArmour yarmulke gave him away on his first journey through the layup line. For those aware of just how celebrated Jewish athletes are among the Jewish people, even those with tenuous connections to the religion, here was a chance to root for the real thing: a legitimate Division I center trying to get better on the court, a true student excelling at an elite school and a young man, 21 years old, trying to balance both with his faith. READ MORE