(JTA) — Amar’e Stoudemire is deeply connected to his Jewish faith and likes to travel in style. So it makes sense that the former NBA star brings a token of his spirituality with him on the road.

In an interview with Bloomberg published Wednesday, Stoudemire said he brings an “antique gold menorah” with him wherever he goes — before the pandemic, at least, when he claimed to travel around 50,000 miles by plane per year.

Here’s his description:

I always pack my antique gold menorah. I bought it in Jerusalem, and it’s kind of a small, travel-sized one. It helps the aesthetic of my room whenever I get to my location. It started when I played in the NBA. I always had the menorah inside of my locker with a few books that I would read before I start the game, so it kind of helped me Zen [out] and relax before I went into a battle against another NBA team.

When I started playing overseas, I started taking it with me to road games and then when I traveled to different countries in the offseason. It’s traveled with me to multiple countries and is always on display, wherever I am staying, to remind me of the strength that can be found in struggle. This helps me endure anything.

It shows up as a dark spot on the x-ray at the airport, but it’s not sharp, like a weapon — it has round edges. [TSA agents] will ask, “Are you traveling with jewelry?” and I’m, like, “No, just my menorah.”

This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.

We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news this Passover. All donations are being matched by the Forward Board - up to $100,000.

This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.

With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give this Passover is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.

The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.

Don't just read the Forward - invest in it. Make a matched gift today.

Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

$120 $180 $360 OTHER AMOUNT