Omri Casspi Skips Preseason Game For Yom Kippur
(JTA) — Omri Casspi, the first Israeli to play in the National Basketball Association, missed his preseason opener with the Golden State Warriors because it took place on Yom Kippur.
The Warriors, with who Casspi signed a one-year deal in July, played against the Denver Nuggets on Saturday.
Golden State head coach Steve Kerr said Casspi had his “full support” to sit out the holiest day on the Jewish calendar.
“Whatever each person needs to do, obviously we afford them that right,” Kerr said. “It’s an important holiday for people of the Jewish faith. Obviously, Omri has our full support, and we’ll see him tomorrow.”
Casspi will make his debut with the championship team next week when the Warriors play two exhibition games against the Minnesota Timberwolves in China. The team left for China on Sunday morning.
Casspi also missed media day in 2009 with Sacramento Kings in his first year in the NBA due to Yom Kippur.
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we need 500 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Our Goal: 500 gifts during our Passover Pledge Drive!