‘Dr J,’ Rick Barry, Earl ‘The Pearl’ Monroe, Dominique Wilkins in Unprecedented Visit to Bring Basketball Clinics to Underprivileged Youth in Israel

NEW YORK, April 29 /PRNewswire/ — Four of the greatest NBA players of all time — Rick Barry, Earl “the Pearl” Monroe, Dominique “The Human Highlight Film” Wilkins, and “Dr J,” Julius Irving — will embark on a week-long mission to hold clinics for the thousands of orphaned, abused and underprivileged boys and girls of Israel. It’s the first such trip ever to the Middle East.

This unprecedented NBA pilgrimage to the Holy Land will take place from May 25 - May 30, and is sponsored by Migdal Ohr, one of the most prominent and largest single charities in Israel. Robert Katz, executive vice president of the American Friends of Migdal Ohr, says it was Barry who convinced his fellow-NBA legends to join the mission.

“I spoke to Rick before the 2008 NBA All-Star Game in New Orleans,” said Katz, “and he instantly agreed to be the voice of 6,500 children at risk and a spokesperson for a tiny country with hundreds of thousands of basketball-crazed fans.”

“How could I not?” asked Barry. “Migdal Ohr has put together a tremendous event, all to help kids in a country, which, by the way, already has Maccabi Tel Aviv, one of the great basketball teams in the world.”

Plans for the NBA Legends Mission include clinics and shoot-arounds in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, autograph sessions, tours of various holy sites, visits with Israeli dignitaries, and attendance at the Israeli Basketball League Championship Game.

Last October, the New York Knicks sold out Madison Square Garden in a special exhibition game against Maccabi Tel Aviv — to benefit Migdal Ohr — the first time the Knicks had ever hosted an international team.

Migdal Ohr, Hebrew for “Tower of Light,” operates Israel’s largest youth village, providing much-needed support to more than 6,500 orphaned, abused, underprivileged and new immigrant children in Israel. The organization runs a network of schools, providing academic and vocational studies while integrating new immigrant children into Israeli society through specialized curricula and after-school programs. The organization was founded in 1972 by Israel Prize Laureate Rabbi Yitzchak David Grossman.

For more information about Migdal Ohr and the Legends Mission, please call 212-397-3700 and visit http://www.migdalohrusa.org/.