You can call him Ariel Smith now.

Chris Smith, the former Knicks point guard and J.R. Smith’s younger brother, is making a basketball comeback and is set to debut next week in the Israeli League for Ironi Nahariya after recently converting to Judaism. Smith became an Orthodox Jew — the strictest level.

Smith’s new Hebrew name is Ariel, and he credits ex-Knicks teammate Amar’e Stoudemire for stoking his Hebrew passions. Stoudemire, though he didn’t officially convert through Rabbi’s supervision like Smith, follows Jewish customs and said his mother told him he is a descendant of Hebrew-Israelites.

Smith grew up in Lakewood, N.J., and had Jewish friends growing up, attending his share of Bar Mitzvahs.

“I really felt connected, a connection to the religion,’’ Smith told The Post on Thursday, in a telephone interview, in his new hometown miles from the Lebanon border. “Growing up in Lakewood and the Jewish community aspect there, then being with the Knicks and being with Amar’e, triggered a lot of my interest. As he was bringing in Hebrew and Judaism books to the locker room, it struck my interest even more.”

Smith’s agent is Daniel Hazan, who’s New York-based and Orthodox and whose family lives in Israel. Hazan helped Smith through the complicated conversion process that began last year and includes a ceremony by the Western Wall in Jerusalem. In fact, Smith nearly became Stoudemire’s teammate for Hapoel Jerusalem last season but a deal fell through.

His brother, J.R., the ex-Knick now on the Cavaliers, is gung ho about Smith’s new journey.

“He’s been fully supportive of my decision,’’ Smith said. “He’s happy for me. He wasn’t that surprised. We weren’t struck by any other religions growing up. He’s going to visit Israel — maybe during the All-Star break.”

Smith is taking classes on reading Hebrew. He missed the first two weeks of the season because of paperwork to get his army release. All Israeli League players have to be enrolled in the Israeli Army, but Smith, 30, can get a release as he’s older than 28.

“I’ve been to a lot of countries — this is obviously my favorite,’’ said Smith, who lives blocks from the Mediterranean Sea. “It’s so much like America. The culture is easy to adjust to. Israel is very accepting to other cultures. America supports Israel. It’s vice-versa when Americans come here.”

Smith spent two months last season living at his Hazan’s parents’ house in Israel and played two games for Galil Elyon as a trial run. He hung out with Stoudemire, sough his advice on making the move and saw him play a lot of games for Hapoel Jerusalem.

(Stoudemire left Israel after just one season and was guest honoree at the Garden on Tuesday to light the menorah on the first night of Hanukkah.)

“I feel basketball is big part of the culture here,’’ Smith said. “There’s really two sports — soccer and basketball. It’s one of the strongest leagues you can play in. I think it’s just as good as the Spanish League, if not better.

The only downside for Smith, he said, is knowing he won’t be allowed to be buried in a Jewish cemetery. Similar to J.R., Smith has a series of tattoos, which are prohibited in the Torah.

Coincidentally, there are two new books out for the Hannakuh season on Jews’ influence on basketball — “Alley-Oop to Aliyah: African Americans in the Holy Land” and “The Chosen Game” by Charley Rosen, who reports the inaugural Knicks team of 1947-48 had seven Jews. Smith played for the Knicks for parts of two seasons between 2012 and 2014.

“Overall, the religion is pretty straight forward — you’re accepted if you practice what you preach,’’ Smith said. “As long as you follow the guidelines of who you are, there’s no perfect Jew, and you’re accepted as who you are.’’

A former Louisville guard who played for Rick Pitino, Smith said he would rather not comment much on the university’s scandal that led to the coach’s ouster. To allow the school to pursue other recruits, Smith gave up his Louisville scholarship — a mitzvah that he didn’t feel was fully appreciated.

“I wasn’t really too fond of how they treated him on his way out nor I was treated on my way out, so it’s better off for me not to speak,” Smith said.

The Knicks have various ways of dealing with the Brooklyn road game. This time, the team stayed overnight in Brooklyn and held a shoot-around at Barclays Center. Occasionally, they hold shoot-around at their Tarrytown facility and bus to the game. Coach Jeff Hornacek said he’s analyzing different ways to do better on the road (they were 1-8 entering Thursday), even considering not holding road shoot-arounds in order to rest.

Nets coach Kenny Atkinson on Kristaps Porzingis: “If anyone has any suggestions [on how to defend him], I’d love to hear it. The great thing is he plays defense, too, and protects the rim. You’re figuring out his offensive game, but you’re also figuring out how to get him out of the way. He can score the ball. It’s a unique, unique player, great for the NBA but not great for the Nets.”