Sacramento Kings' Omri Casspi Serves As Role Model for Israelis and Jews

This article originally appeared in the October issue of Helios, my school's newspaper.

If you happen to watch a Sacramento Kings basketball game this season, don’t be stunned when you hear the commentator announce, “Omri Casspi hits the shot!” You might think it’s just a coincidence that this Omri fellow has an Israeli name and wears No. 18, that there’s no way an Israeli could make it to the National Basketball Association (NBA).

However, when you hear his heavy Israeli accent during a postgame interview and read about his love for hummus, you’ll realize that he is as Israeli as can be.

Born outside of Ashdod and formerly a member of Israel’s world famous Maccabi Tel-Aviv basketball program, Casspi became the first Israeli selected in the first round of an NBA Draft when the Kings drafted him 23rd overall in 2009. All first round draft picks are guaranteed contracts; Casspi’s bestows him with $3.5 million over three years.

Other Israelis have unsuccessfully attempted the transition from the Euroleague (Europe’s professional basketball league) to the NBA. In 2006, the Orlando Magic drafted Maccabi Tel-Aviv’s Lior Eliyahu in the second round. A few picks later, the Seattle Supersonics selected Eliyahu’s teammate, Yotam Halperin.

NBA executives viewed Eliyahu and Halperin as unworthy of NBA contracts, so the two Israelis returned to the Euroleague.

Other than the country he calls home and the team he used to play for, Casspi has one major trait in common with Eliyahu and Halperin: he has not played a game in the NBA. However, unlike the two unsuccessful Israelis, Casspi has affected Israelis and American-Jews because he provides them with hope—they, too, can defy odds and reach the NBA.

Less than two months after Casspi was drafted, two Israelis chose to enroll in American colleges so they could play basketball under the American spotlight with hopes of garnering the attention and interest of NBA scouts.

Also a member of Maccabi Tel-Aviv, Nimrod Tishman, announced his commitment to the University of Florida in the beginning of August. A few weeks later, Carmel Bouchman informed Temple University coach Fran Dunphy that he would accept his scholarship offer.

Tishman and Bouchman were not allowed to comment due to NCAA regulations, so there is no firm proof that Casspi influenced their decisions. However, Casspi said in a video interview on nba.com that he expects to serve as a role-model to Israelis and Jews now that he is in the NBA.

Even Jews who don’t aspire to play in the NBA feel a connection to Casspi simply because he is Jewish. “I used to be much more heavily invested in the NBA than I currently am, but it’s likely that Casspi, being Jewish like me, will revive my interest,” commented a senior who requested anonymity. Many Jews share this sentiment and will check the Kings’ box scores every day to see how Casspi performed the night before.

In the early 1990s, when the University of Connecticut signed four Israelis within a five-year span, it appeared that Israeli basketball was making its way to America. However, none of the “Israeli Huskies” made it to the NBA, leaving Casspi without an Israeli role model at basketball’s highest level.

Now, he will provide Israeli youth with something he was not fortunate enough to have—a player they can identify with in more ways than basketball.