Bobcats' Okafor says he's happy

Mild-mannered Emeka Okafor rarely raises his voice. Yet there was the Charlotte Bobcats' 6-foot-10 big man in December, pounding his fist into his palm in a heated exchange with coach Sam Vincent at the end of practice.

Three months later, Okafor asked for a meeting with Vincent after his playing time diminished.

Shortly after Vincent's rocky first year ended with a 32-50 record, managing partner Michael Jordan fired the rookie coach and replaced him with Hall of Famer Larry Brown.

The move might be the reason Okafor was sitting at a podium in front of a Bobcats banner Tuesday, a week after he agreed to a six-year, $72 million deal to remain in Charlotte.

"When the Bobcats hired him, it showed me they were committed to making the franchise better," Okafor said without answering whether he'd have re-signed if Vincent was still in charge. "Hiring Larry Brown, an elite coach, you have to take notice of that."

Okafor was full of energy as he discussed the prospects for playing for 67-year-old Brown, who is beginning his record ninth NBA head coaching job. Brown, the only coach to lead teams to NCAA and NBA titles, had stressed that keeping Okafor was the team's top offseason priority.

"Larry Brown, he brings a certain dynamic and insight to the game that would make most teams better," Okafor said. "I think he's a perfect fit for us."

NBA'S ONLY JEWISH PLAYER IN ISRAEL FOR WORKSHOP: Los Angeles Lakers guard Jordan Farmar, 21, the NBA's only Jewish player, showed his dribbling, shooting and slam-dunking skills at a clinic in southern Israel on Tuesday for Jewish and Arab kids.

Farmar is the guest of the Peres Center for Peace, founded by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Shimon Peres, now Israel's president, to encourage cooperation between Israelis and Palestinians. One of the ways the center tries to improve relationships is through children playing sports together.

Farmar is the first Jewish player in the NBA since Danny Schayes -- son of Hall of Famer Dolph Schayes -- retired in 1999.

"I've gotten a warm welcome from the whole country," he said in a telephone interview during the clinic in Kiryat Gat, a desert town. "People seem to recognize me everywhere, and it's been great."

Farmar's parents divorced when he was a child. His mother is Jewish, and his stepfather is Israeli.

He said his heritage helped him relate to the Jewish and Arab basketball hopefuls he met in Israel. His father, former baseball player Damon Farmar, is black.

"When I go to the black neighborhoods, people relate to me, and when I go the Jewish neighborhood they relate to me, too," he said.