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NBA star Domantas Sabonis’ wife says he is converting to Judaism
(JTA via J. The Jewish News of Northern California) — When the Sacramento Kings face the Golden State Warriors in the first round of the NBA playoffs starting this weekend, they will be led by their Lithuanian-American — and soon-to-be-Jewish — center, Domantas Sabonis.
The 26-year-old All-Star is in the process of converting to Judaism, according to his Jewish wife, Shashana Sabonis (née Rosen). “We really haven’t talked about it [publicly],” she said in an interview this week. “He loves [Judaism] and really wants to be a part of it.”
Sabonis regularly studies on Zoom with Rabbi Erez Sherman of Sinai Temple in Los Angeles. Sherman, a Conservative rabbi who hosts the sports podcast “Rabbi on the Sidelines,” told J. that Sabonis is serious about learning more about Judaism.
“After [he had] a triple-double against the Houston Rockets, I get a text, like, ‘Hey can we find time to learn?’ I’m like, you’re for real,” Sherman said. “He’s always asking questions. He keeps kosher, and when he’s in Vilnius, he’s going to the kosher butchers to get chicken.”
While Sabonis is committed to his studies, his wife said, the demands of his job have made it impossible for him to commit to following all of the mitzvot. “He has to fly and he has to do those things, but he’s continuing his learning,” Shashana said. “We keep Passover, we keep Shabbat. We don’t drive, and we do Shabbat dinner every week.”
The couple were married by a Reform rabbi in August 2021. They have a year-old son named Tiger, and Shashana is pregnant with their second child.
They have a close relationship with Rabbi Mendy Cohen of Chabad of Sacramento, Shashana said. He put mezuzahs up at their house and recited the Megillah for them on Purim following the Kings game that night. Sabonis attended Chabad of Sacramento’s Purim party this year and signed autographs. In December, he sponsored a sufganiyot giveaway at a Kings home game.
Shashana, who grew up in Los Angeles and went to Jewish day schools, said her husband appreciates the support he has received from the Jewish community.
“People that follow me [on social media] see how we do the holidays and Shabbat, and I think it’s really fun for the Jewish community to see that representation in basketball,” she said.
There are two active Jewish players in the NBA and its developmental G League, Deni Avdija of the Washington Wizards and Ryan Turell of the Motor City Cruise. Former NBA player Amar’e Stoudemire stepped down last year as a Nets assistant coach after two seasons, citing conflicts with his religious observance. Stoudemire converted to Orthodox Judaism in 2020 after being raised in the Hebrew Israelite faith.
Sabonis, who is listed at 7-foot-1 and is the son of NBA Hall of Famer Arvydas Sabonis, had a breakout season in his second with the Kings, helping propel the team back to the playoffs for the first time in 16 seasons and ending the longest postseason drought in NBA history. He led the league in rebounds with 12.3 per game, while averaging 19.1 points per game, and he made his third All-Star team. He was drafted in 2016 and previously played for the Indiana Pacers and Oklahoma City Thunder.
Shashana said her husband is busy preparing for the Warriors series, which begins April 15 at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, and was unavailable for an interview.
How does she think the Kings will fare against the defending champion Warriors?
“[The Kings] are going to win in six games,” she predicted. “We’re a really great team, and everybody is really determined to win.”
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The post NBA star Domantas Sabonis’ wife says he is converting to Judaism appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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Tucker’s Ideas About Jews Come from Darkest Corners of the Internet, Says Huckabee After Combative Interview
US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee looks on during the day he visits the Western Wall, Judaism’s holiest prayer site, in Jerusalem’s Old City, April 18, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun
i24 News – In a combative interview with US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, right-wing firebrand Tucker Carlson made a host of contentious and often demonstrably false claims that quickly went viral online. Huckabee, who repeatedly challenged the former Fox News star during the interview, subsequently made a long post on X, identifying a pattern of bad-faith arguments, distortions and conspiracies in Carlson’s rhetorical style.
Huckabee pointed out his words were not accorded by Carlson the same degree of attention and curiosity the anchor evinced toward such unsavory characters as “the little Nazi sympathizer Nick Fuentes or the guy who thought Hitler was the good guy and Churchill the bad guy.”
“What I wasn’t anticipating was a lengthy series of questions where he seemed to be insinuating that the Jews of today aren’t really same people as the Jews of the Bible,” Huckabee wrote, adding that Tucker’s obsession with conspiracies regarding the provenance of Ashkenazi Jews obscured the fact that most Israeli Jews were refugees from the Arab and Muslim world.
The idea that Ashkenazi Jews are an Asiatic tribe who invented a false ancestry “gained traction in the 80’s and 90’s with David Duke and other Klansmen and neo-Nazis,” Huckabee wrote. “It has really caught fire in recent years on the Internet and social media, mostly from some of the most overt antisemites and Jew haters you can find.”
Carlson branded Israel “probably the most violent country on earth” and cited the false claim that Israel President Isaac Herzog had visited the infamous island of the late, disgraced sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
“The current president of Israel, whom I know you know, apparently was at ‘pedo island.’ That’s what it says,” Carlson said, citing a debunked claim made by The Times reporter Gabrielle Weiniger. “Still-living, high-level Israeli officials are directly implicated in Epstein’s life, if not his crimes, so I think you’d be following this.”
Another misleading claim made by Carlson was that there were more Christians in Qatar than in Israel.
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Pezeshkian Says Iran Will Not Bow to Pressure Amid US Nuclear Talks
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian attends the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit 2025, in Tianjin, China, September 1, 2025. Iran’s Presidential website/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via REUTERS
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Saturday that his country would not bow its head to pressure from world powers amid nuclear talks with the United States.
“World powers are lining up to force us to bow our heads… but we will not bow our heads despite all the problems that they are creating for us,” Pezeshkian said in a speech carried live by state TV.
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Italy’s RAI Apologizes after Latest Gaffe Targets Israeli Bobsleigh Team
Milano Cortina 2026 Olympics – Bobsleigh – 4-man Heat 1 – Cortina Sliding Centre, Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy – February 21, 2026. Adam Edelman of Israel, Menachem Chen of Israel, Uri Zisman of Israel, Omer Katz of Israel in action during Heat 1. Photo: REUTERS/Athit Perawongmetha
Italy’s state broadcaster RAI was forced to apologize to the Jewish community on Saturday after an off‑air remark advising its producers to “avoid” the Israeli crew was broadcast before coverage of the Four-Man bobsleigh event at the Winter Olympics.
The head of RAI’s sports division had already resigned earlier in the week after his error-ridden commentary at the Milano Cortina 2026 opening ceremony two weeks ago triggered a revolt among its journalists.
On Saturday, viewers heard “Let’s avoid crew number 21, which is the Israeli one” and then “no, because …” before the sound was cut off.
RAI CEO Giampaolo Rossi said the incident represented a “serious” breach of the principles of impartiality, respect and inclusion that should guide the public broadcaster.
He added that RAI had opened an internal inquiry to swiftly determine any responsibility and any potential disciplinary procedures.
In a separate statement RAI’s board of directors condemned the remark as “unacceptable.”
The board apologized to the Jewish community, the athletes involved and all viewers who felt offended.
RAI is the country’s largest media organization and operates national television, radio and digital news services.
The union representing RAI journalists, Usigrai, had said Paolo Petrecca’s opening ceremony commentary had dealt “a serious blow” to the company’s credibility.
His missteps included misidentifying venues and public figures, and making comments about national teams that were widely criticized.