David Blu - Biography

David Blu (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 .

Early life

Blu is Jewish. His mother is Jewish, and his African American father converted to Judaism. He represented the United States at the Maccabiah Games in 1997.

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. 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. He averaged 12.1 points, 7.5 rebounds, and 1.2 assists per game. He graduated in 2002.

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.

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.

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.

Back to Israel

On June 15, 2007, he returned from Fortitudo to Maccabi Tel Aviv. 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.

France

On July 10, 2008, he signed a one-year deal with Le Mans.

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, and 11.1 points and 4 rebounds in the Winner League. On July 2010 Maccabi extended Blu contract for another year.

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

• List of select Jewish basketball players

External links

• NBA.com Profile
• Euroleague.net Profile