Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Breaking News

Kobe Bryant Works Out at Jewish Center

Shooting Star: Kobe Bryant and other NBA stars are scrambling to get in shape for the season. What better spot than the local JCC? Image by getty images

You never know who’s going to show up at the JCC these days.

With the pro hoops season back on track, basketball superstar Kobe Bryant reportedly held a surprise workout at a Jewish Community Center in Irvine, Ca.

The Los Angeles Lakers guard brought a trainer to work on shooting drills and cardio training as spectators looked on, according to the TMZ website.

He shot it around for about an hour as amazed spectators watched, the web site said.

Bryant and the rest of the NBA players are scrambling to prepare for a shortened season that will start Dec. 25 after they reached a deal with team owners to end their lockout.

Bryant’s not the first NBA superstar to stop by a JCC. Last month, the Miami Heat’s LeBron James played a pickup game at the JCC in Cleveland.

Meanwhile, New York Knicks center Amar’e Stoudemire, who visited Israel last year to discover more about his Jewish heritage on his mother’s side, is interested in opening a Hebrew school, according to the New York Daily News.

An unnamed source told the newspaper that Stoudemire has discussed opening a school that would focus on teaching the Hebrew language and Jewish history, though no school is actually in the works.

With JTA

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse..

Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

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

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.