RIGHT AT HOME
AS AN ISRAELI AFRICAN-AMERICAN JEW, NETS’ DAWSON SHOULD FIND COMFORT IN BROOKLYN
Through his own life encounters, Shawn Dawson believes he’s one-of-a-kind — an African-American Israeli Jew.
Not that Dawson was reminded often about his differences growing up in Israel. It’s a credit, he says, to the inclusive environment promoted by his friends and countrymen. But Dawson’s story is nonetheless unique, and there’s a chance it will continue in Brooklyn, home to the largest Jewish population of any county in the United States.
The 24-year-old guard impressed in Summer League with the Nets, leading the team in scoring despite averaging just 18 minutes per game. He is among the prospects fighting for a roster spot, trying to become just the third Israeli in the NBA.
It’d be a journey to BK through the Promised Land, with roots in the Deep South.
“I want to finish what I started,” Dawson says. “I came in looking for a roster spot in the NBA and I’m trying to make it happen.”
Dawson’s father, Joe, was raised in Alabama and is a Hall of Famer at the University of Southern Mississippi. Joe played basketball professionally in Israel for over 20 years, meeting and marrying Dawson’s mother, Iris, along the way.
Judaism, by decree, is passed down from the mother and Dawson follows that tradition — “My mom is Jewish so I’m Jewish,” he says.
“I didn’t have too many incidents where I felt different or I faced racism or something like that. But I knew I was different in some ways,” he says. “Growing up I barely saw black people around me or in my school. But I never felt too different. That’s a good thing about my friends and wherever I went.”
Dawson speaks Hebrew, celebrated a Bar Mitzvah and planned on fulfilling his three-year requirement in the army as an Israeli citizen. But he was rejected after failing a medical examination.
“They found something wrong with my kidney. It was something minor, though,” he says. “But they didn’t want to take a chance if it gets worse when I’m in the army than they’re going to have to pay me money for the rest of my life.”
Those three years were instead spent as a professional basketball player in Israel, developing into the league’s Most Improved Player, a four-time All-Star and a champion. The five games with the Nets this summer represented his second stint in the NBA’s Summer League, the first coming two years ago with the Wizards. The 6-6 guard parlayed that into a training camp invite from the Pelicans but was cut before the regular season.
According to his agent, Daniel Hazan, Dawson has been doubted and scrutinized by the Israeli media as, “not good enough. … they portrayed him in a bad way for even trying to make it into the NBA.” Perhaps that had something to do with a disappointing performance in the 2017 FIBA European Championships — a tournament the country hosted — when Israel was eliminated in the group stage.
“It came out to an epic fail,” says Dawson.
But he has clearly improved. Although the Nets failed to win once in five games at Summer League, Dawson scored at least 14 points three times; the highlight being a 19-point, 6-rebound effort against Orlando. The Nets still have two spots open for two-way contract players, and Hazan says “multiple teams are taking a look at him besides Brooklyn. “We’ll see how things go.” Dawson believes his game has benefitted from the NBA’s 3-second defensive violation, which is not a rule overseas.
“I’m used to the paint always packed and I come to the NBA style and the whole game is just open,” he says. “The whole paint is just open to drive. This is new to me because I’m also a driver. I’m used to dealing with a lot of help as soon as I get into the lane. That was a nice adjustment.”
According to his agent, Dawson has developed an edge to his game since his last Summer League appearance.
“In Israel, the one thing he was missing was that mean, competitive streak that you get playing in the United States, playing in the streets,” said Hazan, an Israeli-American from Manhattan. “That was something he didn’t have coming into training camp with the Pelicans, things like that. Now, you see that aggressiveness — willing to bump bodies with players, go at players. That was something that I think he wasn’t able to develop being in Israel. Basketball isn’t like that in Europe.”
Growing up, Dawson bounced from city to city following his father’s basketball career. When his parents divorced, he lived with his mother, then with his father — all the while rooted in Israel and in a different-butthe-same lifestyle. Dawson played against Amar’e Stoudemire in Israel – “he’s a cool guy” — and against David Blatt’s team. He’s an All-Star over there, but has been longing for the challenge of the NBA. After going undrafted in 2015 and being cut out of training camp a year later, Dawson feels he’s finally ready.
“I am feeling a lot more comfortable, a lot more mature, a lot more confident,” he says. “And I think my game has changed in two years. I just see the results.”