JERUSALEM (JTA) — NBA All-Star Dwight Howard will visit Israel to hold a basketball clinic for teens.
Howard, of the Orlando Magic, and several former NBA All-Stars will also scrimmage against the Maccabi Haifa professional basketball team of the Israeli Basketball Super League.
The group of current and former professional basketball players from the United States will visit Israel from Aug. 28 to Sept. 5, "to demonstrate their solidarity with the people and State of Israel," according to a news release from SportsPower International, a nonprofit organization that uses current and former NBA players as inspiring role models to make a positive impact on international youth.
Howard will conduct a basketball workshop and training session for teens on Sept. 4. Later that day, Maccabi Haifa will scrimmage against a team of former NBA All-Stars, including Jerome Williams, Anthony Bonner, Paul Grant, David Wood and Laron Profit. The All-Star team will be coached by Dwight Howard’s father, Dwight Howard Sr.
“With the arrival of superstars the likes of Dwight Howard to host a clinic for teens for such a worthy cause and for our Maccabi Haifa team to scrimmage against former-NBA stars, we are more than happy to rearrange our preseason schedule,” said Maccabi Haifa’s vice chairman, Arnon Shiran.
Maccabi Haifa will travel to the United States to play the New Jersey Nets in its first preseason game at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J., on Oct. 3.
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