{"id":28867,"date":"2009-06-26T12:00:00","date_gmt":"2009-06-26T09:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost:8080\/omri-casspi-drafted-by-sacramento-in-the-23rd-pick-of-round-one\/"},"modified":"2026-04-26T08:29:22","modified_gmt":"2026-04-26T05:29:22","slug":"omri-casspi-drafted-by-sacramento-in-the-23rd-pick-of-round-one","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/maccabi.co.il\/en\/omri-casspi-drafted-by-sacramento-in-the-23rd-pick-of-round-one\/","title":{"rendered":"Omri Casspi Drafted by Sacramento in the 23rd Pick of Round One"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><P><FONT size=2 face=Arial>By Amy Samin<\/FONT><br \/><BR><\/P> <P><FONT size=2 face=Arial>Omri Casspi has made Israeli basketball history by becoming the first Israeli to be selected in the first round of the NBA draft.<br \/> He was chosen by the Sacramento Kings, who currently hold the dubious honor of having the worst record in the league (they were 17 \u2013 65 in the 2008\/09 season).<br \/> Casspi joins the ranks of other international players on the King\u2019s roster, such as point guard Beno Udrih (formerly of Maccabi Tel Aviv) and forward Andres Nocioni, as well as guards Bobby Jackson and Rashad McCants.<br \/> The pick assures Casspi of a contract with a team in the best basketball league in the world, and opens the door for him to become the first Israeli ever to play in the NBA.<\/FONT><br \/><BR><\/P> <P><FONT size=2 face=Arial>Recently, former NBA player and coach Paul Westphal took on the position of head coach of Sacramento.<br \/> One of Casspi\u2019s best practices on the eve of the draft took place before the King\u2019s staff.<\/FONT><br \/><BR><\/P> <P><FONT size=2 face=Arial>After exchanging hugs with the friends and family who were with him throughout the draft picks, and shedding a few tears of excitement, Casspi told a reporter from the Sport 5 website, \u201cWow.<br \/> I can\u2019t talk.<br \/> You wait for a moment like this for so long, and there\u2019s a lot of stress.<br \/> Suddenly Portland chooses a player who didn\u2019t come to the practices, and you have no idea what\u2019s going to happen.<br \/> I\u2019ve waited for this moment all my life.<br \/> Now I need to fly over there and sign the contract.<br \/> Sacramento told me they were debating between me and two other candidates who were in the draft, and they chose me.<br \/> I\u2019m very happy.<br \/> I understood that they really wanted me and liked me.<br \/> They followed me for a long time.<br \/> I\u2019m very excited.<br \/> It\u2019s a dream come true.\u201d<\/FONT><br \/><BR><\/P> <P><FONT size=2 face=Arial>\u201cI\u2019m as happy as can be.<br \/> We\u2019ve made history.<br \/> We still need to finalize all the details, but I feel like I\u2019m in a dream.<br \/> My whole career developed a step at a time, with ups and downs but always in the right direction.<br \/> I\u2019m very happy to be where I am right now.<br \/> I\u2019m content,\u201d Casspi concluded.<\/FONT><br \/><BR><\/P> <P><FONT size=2 face=Arial>Ilana Casspi, Omri\u2019s mother, thanked Ziv Erez, Roni Bosani, Zvika Sherf, Sharon Drucker, Avi Kovalski and Pini Gershon, her son\u2019s coaches in recent years, and added, \u201cWe\u2019ve made Omri\u2019s and our dream come true.\u201d<\/FONT><br \/><BR><br \/><\/P> <P><A href=\"mailto:samintranslations@yahoo.com\" target=_blank><FONT color=#0000ff size=2 face=Arial><U>samintranslations@yahoo.com<\/U><\/FONT><\/A><FONT size=2 face=Arial> <\/FONT><br \/><BR><\/P><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A historical moment for Israeli basketball: Omri Casspi is picked by the Sacramento Kings in the first round of the 2009 NBA draft, and may become the first Israeli to play in the NBA. 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