Jordan Farmar

Jordan Robert Farmar (born November 30, 1986) is an American-Israeli former professional basketball player who played in the National Basketball Association (NBA). In high school, he was named the Los Angeles Times High School Player of the Year in 2003–04. Playing college basketball for the UCLA Bruins, he was the Rivals.com National Freshman of the Year in 2004–05. Farmar was selected 26th overall in the first round of the 2006 NBA draft by the Los Angeles Lakers. With the Lakers, he won two NBA championships in 2009 and 2010.

Early life Farmar was born in Los Angeles. His mother is named Melinda, known as "Mindy", and his father is Damon Farmar, a former minor league baseball outfielder who was a second round pick in both the 1981 January draft and the 1982 June draft secondary phase. His father is African-American. His maternal grandfather, Dr. Howard Baker, attended UCLA and worked at the UCLA Medical Center as a neurologist. Farmar has a half-sister, Shoshana Kolani.

Farmar's parents divorced when he was two years old, and he went to live with his mother. She soon met and married her current husband (Farmar's stepfather), Israeli Yehuda Kolani from Tel Aviv.

Farmar is Jewish, as are his mother and stepfather. He attended Hebrew school and had his bar mitzvah at Temple Judea in Tarzana, California.

Farmar started playing basketball at age 4. Farmar inherited his competitive drive from his father and mentor, Damon Farmar, who played football and baseball at University High and baseball in the minor leagues. The younger Farmar spent hours in his father's clubhouses, with his father's teammates, and watching his father play. As a senior, he averaged 27.5 points and 6.5 assists, and led Taft to the school's first Los Angeles City title. He had over 2,000 points in two seasons at Taft. On July 8, 2006, he made his debut at the Summer Pro League, which was held at the Walter Pyramid. His final game totals were 17 points and 3 assists in 31 minutes of play.

For most of the 2006–07 NBA season, Farmar played backup to Smush Parker. On March 31, 2007, Farmar was assigned to the Lakers' D-League team, the Los Angeles D-Fenders. On April 1, Farmar scored 18 points in a 109–101 home loss against the Anaheim Arsenal. Later on that afternoon, he was re-called by the Lakers to play against the visiting Sacramento Kings. Farmar added 4 points and 4 rebounds in 7:38 minutes playing time, helping the Lakers take a home victory, thereby making history by becoming the first player ever to participate in both a D-League and an NBA game on the same day. On April 15, against the Seattle SuperSonics, Farmar got his first professional career start, replacing Parker in the starting lineup. Along with two starts in the regular season, Farmar started all five playoff games at point guard. In those games against first round opponent the Phoenix Suns, he averaged 6.4 ppg and 1.2 spg against Steve Nash.

With the departure of Smush Parker, Aaron McKie, and Shammond Williams, the Lakers lacked a point guard. Therefore, with the 19th selection in the 2007 NBA draft the Los Angeles Lakers selected point guard Javaris Crittenton, who was later traded to the Memphis Grizzlies. As a result, during the summer and fall of 2007 Farmar became a denizen of the team training facility, working on his shot from June through September. He knew his job was in jeopardy with a new point guard in town, and knew he had to work to keep his position within the organization. His hard work paid off, and he averaged 9.1 points, 2.2 rebounds, and 2.7 assists per game, in 20.6 minutes per game, as the backup to veteran point guard Derek Fisher, who made his return to the Lakers. He played in all 82 games in the 2007–08 season, and shot 46.1% from the field, 3.9% up from the prior season, as well as 37.1% from three-point range, 4.3% up from the prior season. "I'm just trying to shorten [my shot], square my shoulders up and just knock it down", Farmar said. "It's all hand–eye coordination, and I believe in my ability." He had a career high of 24 points in a game against the Miami Heat.

On December 24, 2008, Farmar underwent surgery to repair a torn lateral meniscus in his left knee after suffering an injury in a game against the Miami Heat. He was expected to miss 8 weeks. Farmar was averaging 7.9 points and 2.4 assists before his injury. On January 25, 2009, Farmar returned to action nearly a month earlier than expected, recording 14 points and 2 assists against San Antonio.

On April 13, 2010, Farmar suffered a slight strain of his left hamstring, on the second-to-last game of the season. However, head coach Phil Jackson said Farmar would dress up for the season finale, to ensure that he would record a full 82-game season. He would recover in time for the playoffs, where he would help the team win a second consecutive championship.

New Jersey Nets (2010–2011) After winning two championship rings with his hometown Los Angeles Lakers, Farmar agreed to a three-year, $12 million contract with the New Jersey Nets on July 14, 2010. A large factor in his decision was his feeling stifled playing behind the established Fisher with the Lakers. In 2010–11, he averaged 9.6 points per game on .467 field goal percentage.

Maccabi Tel Aviv (2011) On August 3, 2011, Farmar signed a one-year contract with the Israeli Basketball Super League champion Maccabi Tel Aviv, in the wake of the 2011 NBA lockout. Farmar was very excited to go to Tel Aviv, because his step-father is from the city, and he spent time there as a child. His teammates included former All-American Duke guard Jon Scheyer, who joined the team in June. In the first week of November 2011, he won EuroLeague Player of the Week honors after a 27-point game against Real Madrid. His final game with the team was a 74–71 loss to Partizan Belgrade. He averaged 14.1 points in seven EuroLeague games.

Return to the Nets (2011–2012) Farmar returned to the New Jersey Nets after the NBA lockout ended.

On March 7, 2012, Farmar hit an open game-winning 3-point shot against the Los Angeles Clippers, leaving the clock with 0.2 seconds left. The final score was 101–100. In 2011–12, he averaged 10.4 points per game and 5.0 assists per game, as he played 24.6 minutes per game.

On July 11, 2012, Farmar, Anthony Morrow, Jordan Williams, Johan Petro, DeShawn Stevenson, and a 2013 first round draft pick were traded to the Atlanta Hawks for Joe Johnson. Five days later, he was waived by the Hawks.

Anadolu Efes (2012–2013) On July 12, 2012, Farmar signed a three-year $15 million contract, with opt-outs after each season, with the Turkish League team Anadolu Efes. He averaged 13.8 points in 29 EuroLeague games. On December 1, Farmar tore his left hamstring and was expected to miss a month of action. He only played 56 seconds before leaving the game. On February 28, 2014, he scored a career-high 30 points in a 126–122 win over Sacramento. He was a career-high 8-for-10 on 3-pointers in the game, and the Lakers set a franchise record for most threes made in a regulation game, shooting 19-for-27. The team signed him to replace former UCLA teammate Darren Collison, who left the Clippers as a free agent. Farmar never quite fit in with the team, and was waived on January 16, 2015, after agreeing to a buyout. He had complained of an inconsistent role and playing time on the team, while coaches were unhappy with his performance.

Darüşşafaka (2015) On February 7, 2015, Farmar signed with Darüşşafaka of Turkey for the rest of the 2014–15 Turkish Basketball League season. He averaged 14.9 points in 14 Turkish national league games. On January 10, 2016, he parted ways with Maccabi. He averaged 8.9 points, 2.4 rebounds, and 2.8 assists in eight EuroLeague games. That night, he made his debut for the Grizzlies in a 103–97 win over the Phoenix Suns, recording 12 points, three rebounds, one assist, and one steal in 23 minutes. On March 31, he signed with the Grizzlies for the rest of the season. Then, on the same day, Farmar scored a season-high 14 points and dished out 5 assists in a losing effort against the Denver Nuggets. On April 5, Farmar, scored a new season-high with 15 points in a 108–92 victory over the visiting Chicago Bulls. He also grabbed 2 rebounds and dished out 4 assists.

Sacramento Kings (2016) On September 14, 2016, Farmar signed with the Sacramento Kings. He was waived by the Kings on October 24, and later re-signed on November 2. On November 7, he was waived by the Kings after appearing in two games.

Accolades In 2010 he was inducted into the Southern California Jewish Sports Hall of Fame.

Career statistics

NBA †Denotes seasons in which Farmar won an NBA championship

Regular season

Playoffs

EuroLeague

Personal life On July 29, 2012, Farmar married soccer player Jill Oakes.

Farmar has a tattoo on his left arm of him with his arm around his little half-sister, while the words "just the two of us" surround them. He also has a tattoo across his back that reads "Farmar." He is a Barack Obama supporter, and attended a fundraiser for Obama in Orange County, California.

In 2009, Farmar played himself in the television series Numb3rs.

Philanthropy In one week in August 2008, he led a basketball camp for Israeli and Palestinian children, having them play together on the same team. He also started Hoop Farm, a children's basketball camp at UCLA which he leads that promotes eco-friendly behavior.

He joined the Chabad Telethon in September 2008, shooting free-throws in order to raise funds. Rabbi Chaim Cunin, executive producer of the telethon and CEO of Chabad of California, said: "Jordan is a real mensch. He raised $66,600 in 90 seconds. He made 37 free throws in 90 seconds."

In 2009, during the summer he was the host of the first annual Jordan Farmar Celebrity Golf Classic, which was held at Sherwood Country Club in Thousand Oaks. The money that was raised was contributed to the Jordan Farmar Foundation, which his mother runs and which is focused on assisting at-risk youths and children who are taking cancer treatment at Mattel Children's Hospital UCLA.