Historic Breakaway
Image by GETTY IMAGES
‘We made history. I feel like I am in a dream,” Israeli basketball player Omri Casspi said June 25, when he was picked by the Sacramento Kings in the first round of the 2009 NBA Draft, held at the WaMu Theater at Madison Square Garden. Casspi became the first Israeli basketball player to be selected in the first round of the draft, guaranteeing him a multiyear NBA contract. Picked 23rd, he was the fourth international player drafted this year.
Image by GETTY IMAGES
Only a handful of Israeli players have ever come close to playing in the NBA. Most recently, Lior Eliyahu and Yotam Halperin were tapped in the second round of the draft in 2006; however, neither player made his respective team, and both left the States to play for European teams.
The 21-year-old Casspi had originally submitted his name in last year’s draft, but he dropped out at the last minute. He instead returned to Israel to help lead his former squad, Maccabi Tel Aviv, to the 2008-09 league championship. He also has played on the all-league team and the Israeli national squad.
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!
