David Blu

Template:Infobox Euroleague Player David Blu (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 summer of 2010 he changed his name to David Blu .

Early life

Blu, who is Jewish, represented the United States at the Maccabiah Games in 1997.

Middle school

Before high school, Blu attended Palms Junior High.

High school

Blu averaged 27 points and 11 rebounds in 1997 as a junior at Venice High School, and was selected to the Los Angeles Times' South Bay/Westside All-Star Team and the Student Sports' All-State Underclass Team. He was also a Street & Smith 1997 High Honorable Mention selection.

Blu averaged 21 points and 11 rebounds per game as a senior at Westchester High School, and led the Comets to a 30–3 record and their first-ever City Section 4-A title and Division I state championship.

Following the 1998 season, Blu was honored with the John R. Wooden Award (which goes to 7 Los Angeles area prep players), and was named the City 4-A Player of the Year. He also earned several awards and recognitions: USA Today All-USA honorable mention, Long Beach Press-Telegram Best in the West first team, Cal-Hi Sports All-State second team, All-City 4-A first team, and Los Angeles Times South Bay/Westside All-Star Team (for the second year in a row).

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 1999–2000, he started at small forward, and was named All-Pac-10 honorable mention after scoring 13.9 points, and gathering 8.3 rebounds per game — 3rd best in the conference. He also tied the school's single-game rebounding record with 28 rebounds (against Arizona State), and his season total of 250 rebounds ranked him 14th all-time in USC history. He was also the Trojans' leading free throw shooter, making 74 of 88 (.841, 5th best in the Pac-10 and 5th best in USC history).

In 2000–01, during his junior year, he averaging 13.3 points (14th in the conference), 6.9 rebounds (11th), 1.6 steals (7th), and was 17th in 3-point percentage (56 for 143, .392 percentage). He broke the Pac-10 record for consecutive made free throws in conference games with 42.

In the 2001 NCAA tournament, he led the Trojans to their first Elite Eight appearance since 1954, averaging 16.0 points per game, and the Trojans upset No. 3 seed Boston College and No. 2 seed Kentucky. Blu then had 17 points and 13 rebounds against Duke, but the Blue Devils won 79–69.

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 basketball powerhouse, 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 retured 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

Blu's mother is Jewish, and his African American father converted to Judaism. 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.

See also

• List of select Jewish basketball players

External links

• NBA.com Profile
• Euroleague.net Profile