- David Blu
-
David Blu 
Position Power Forward
Small ForwardHeight 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) Weight 225 lb (102 kg) League Israeli Super League
Euroleague
AdriaticTeam Maccabi Tel Aviv Number 7 Born July 18, 1980
Los Angeles, California, USANationality American-Israeli College Southern California Draft Undrafted, 2002 Pro career 2002–present Career history Maccabi Tel Aviv (2002–04; 2007–08; 2009–present)
Dynamo Saint Petersburg (2004)
Benetton Treviso (2004–05)
Virtus Bologna (2005–06)
Fortitudo Bologna (2006–07)
Le Mans Sarthe Basket (2008–09)David Blu[1] (Hebrew: דייוויד בלו; born David Bluthenthal, July 18, 1980, in Los Angeles) is a 6' 7" (2.01 m) American-Israeli professional basketball player who plays for the Maccabi Tel Aviv basketball club.
He was born as David Bluthenthal. In 2010 he changed his name to David Blu .
Contents
Early life
Blu is Jewish.[2][3] His mother is Jewish, and his African American father converted to Judaism.[3][4][5] He represented the United States at the Maccabiah Games in 1997.[6]
Before high school, Blu attended Palms Junior High.
College
He attended the University of Southern California, which was founded by his great-great-great-grandfather, Isaias Hellman.[7] A starter from his sophomore season on, he was consistently one of the top players in the Pac-10.
In 2001–02, his senior season, Blu was named All-Pac 10 honorable mention.[3] He averaged 12.1 points, 7.5 rebounds, and 1.2 assists per game. He graduated in 2002.[8]
Pro career
Israel
After graduation, he went to Europe and signed with Israeli professional team Maccabi Tel Aviv in the Israel League. During two years with Maccabi Tel Aviv (2003–04) he lifted team to the Euroleague championship in 2004 and the Israeli National Cup twice. He scored 20 points off the bench in the 2004 Euroleague final, a 44-point Maccabi annihilation of one of his future teams, Fortitudo Bologna.[9]
NBA
He then tried his luck in the NBA's summer league, and was signed by the Sacramento Kings on August 7, 2004, as a forward, but was released in November before the 2004–05 season started.
Russia
Following his release from Sacramento, he received an offer from the Russian team Dynamo Saint Petersburg that just signed David Blatt, who was the coach of Maccabi Tel Aviv during the time that Blu was there. In 8 games he shot 69.6% from 2-point range.
Italy
After only two months in Russia, he went to Italy to play for Benetton Treviso. He shot over 60% from 2-point range, and over 51% from 3-point range.[10]
In the summer of 2005, he signed with Virtus Bologna, and became one of their top players with 20.2 points per game.
After the 2005–06 season, he signed with Virtus' intense crosstown rivals Fortitudo. During the 2006–07 season for Fortitudo, he averaged 16 points and 4.2 rebounds in Euroleague play, and also made 71.1% of his two-point shots and 46.2% of his three-pointers.[11]
Back to Israel
On June 15, 2007, he returned from Fortitudo to Maccabi Tel Aviv.[12] He averaged 8.7 points and 2.4 rebounds in 25 Euroleague games for Maccabi as they advanced to the Euroleague final against winners CSKA Moscow.[9]
France
On July 10, 2008, he signed a one-year deal with Le Mans.[9]
Again Israel
Before the 2009–2010 season Blu yet again returned to Israel and signed for Maccabi Tel Aviv B.C. for one season finishing the season with averages of 9.3 points and 3 rebounds in the Euroleague,[13] and 11.1 points and 4 rebounds in the Winner League. On July 2010 Maccabi extended Blu contract for another year.[13]
Israeli national team
Although he has Israeli citizenship, he declined to play for the Israeli national team in the European Championship in 2005 and 2007. But in summer of 2010 Blu finally agreed to represent Israel and made his first appearance against Portugal on July 19, 2010. Blu competed with the Israeli national team in Eurobasket 2011 averaging 12.8 PPG and 3.2 RPG.
See also
References
- ^ Art-Up. "David Bluthenthal has officially changed his name to David Blu, and took a new number to go with his new name: number 7". Maccabi.co.il. http://www.maccabi.co.il/News.asp?id=2492&language=english. Retrieved February 1, 2011.
- ^ Day by day in Jewish sports history. http://books.google.com/books?id=aOTWUl-9LQoC&pg=PA122&dq=David+Bluthenthal+jewish&hl=en&ei=2A51TbTeNIWclgfrq4j8BA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CDEQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=David%20Bluthenthal%20jewish&f=false. Retrieved March 7, 2011.
- ^ a b c ".". http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1147477.html. Retrieved September 30, 2011.
- ^ Eskenazi, Joe (September 10, 2004). "Jewish shooting star aims to make his mark in NBA". j.. http://www.jewishsf.com/content/2-0-/module/displaystory/story_id/23490/edition_id/467/format/html/displaystory.html. Retrieved January 8, 2009.
- ^ Day by day in Jewish sports history. http://books.google.com/books?id=aOTWUl-9LQoC&pg=PA122&dq=David+Bluthenthal+jewish&hl=en&ei=2A51TbTeNIWclgfrq4j8BA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CDEQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=David%20Bluthenthal%20jewish&f=false. Retrieved March 7, 2011.
- ^ ".". http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FB0E12FA39580C778EDDAA0894D9404482. Retrieved September 30, 2011.
- ^ ".". http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/basketball/college/men/recaps/2001/03/22/kaf_uad/. Retrieved September 30, 2011.
- ^ "David Bluthenthal Bio". NBA.com. June 16, 2004. http://www.nba.com/playerfile/david_bluthenthal/index.html?nav=page. Retrieved August 3, 2010.
- ^ a b c "Le Mans lands David Bluthenthal". Euroleague.net. July 10, 2008. http://www.euroleague.net/news/i/33805/180/item. Retrieved January 8, 2009.
- ^ http://217.13.116.51/plantillas/jugador.jsp?id=BES
- ^ "Maccabi brings back shooting ace Bluthenthal – Latest – Welcome to EUROLEAGUE BASKETBALL". Euroleague.net. June 15, 2007. http://www.euroleague.net/news/i/13671/180/item. Retrieved August 3, 2010.
- ^ "Maccabi brings back shooting ace Bluthenthal". Euroleague.net. June 15, 2007. http://www.euroleague.net/news/i/13671/180/item. Retrieved February 1, 2011.
- ^ a b Art-Up. "Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv BasketBall Club". Maccabi.co.il. http://www.maccabi.co.il/News.asp?id=2409&language=english. Retrieved August 3, 2010.
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