​Fourteen-year NBA veteran Amar’e Stoudemire fulfilled a dream on Monday by wearing a jersey from his new team, Hapoel Jerusalem.  He had just signed a two-year contract to play with the 2015 Israeli Basketball Premier League champion Hapoel after retiring from the NBA just six days earlier.

Stoudemire said that, "Playing with Jerusalem… allows me to take care of both… a spiritual journey and also being able to take care of my professional career. He and his family have visited Israel together often in the past six years.

In 2013, Stoudemire became a minority owner of the Hapoel. In order to compete as a player he will have to sell his share in the club.

"My wife and I always talked about living abroad and experiencing different cultures, and what better culture to experience for us than living in Jerusalem?" Stoudemire said.