Bigger Than Jordan w/ Tamir Goodman

Tamir Goodman is the only basketball player in history to play at a D1 level while fully observing Shabbat. It’s a story that includes shocks, setbacks and lots of uplifting moments.

Glancing at the Wikipedia version of Tamir’s story would lead most to exclaim “Yoshke! This guy sacrificed a lot to keep Shabbat!”

But this isn’t how Tamir sees it. Shabbat kept him.

The ups and downs of Tamir’s path were received with a sage-like equanimity which he attributes to wearing G-d’s jersey.

Videos: Tamir's background; and the 1999 SNL skit with Jerry Seinfeld playing the "Jewish Michael Jordan" (16:30).

Music by Flint — "Cloudy Skies," "Glitch Flop."

In this episode we discuss:

• Can a Shabbat observant Jew play basketball professionally?

• The fine line of having high expectations for your kids while not crushing them.

• If becoming a (Jewish) household name at 16 was warranted for Tamir and if it affected him poorly.

• Tamir turned down a D1 basketball scholarship at Maryland for their failure to adjust for Shabbat. What were the ramifications of that?

• What was it like to find a D1 program that would adapt to Shabbat?

• His gratitude to Towson for making it work , and meaningful anecdotes from that period.

• How Tamir experienced setbacks such as an assault and injury but managing to discover the blessings within.

• And Tamir Goodman currently: instead of tallying his own points scored, he counts the children he’s taught the love-of-the-game.