By Amy Samin
Omri Casspi and NBA stars DeMarcus Cousins, Caron Butler, Iman Shumpert, Chandler Parsons, Tyreke Evans, and Alan Anderson held an exciting basketball workshop for more than 150 children from the Maccabi Tel Aviv youth department, in cooperation with NBA Cares. Hundreds of members of the Maccabist VIP club watched the workshop and had a chance to see the NBA stars up close and personal. Others present included the management of the club, Guy Pnini, Tal Brody, and Aulcie Perry.
Casspi, a former player with Maccabi Tel Aviv and currently a player for the Sacramento Kings, said: "It wasn't easy to convince them to come. Despite that, everyone expressed their willingness to come and see that we can start a kind of tradition, because there are already a lot of other players who want to come next year. To tell you the truth, I think that everyone who came this year already wants to come back to Israel next year. They're enjoying themselves."
Iman Shumpert, who plays for the Cleveland Cavaliers and Coach David Blatt, said: "Israel is an amazing place. The truth is, I hoped Blatt would show up and surprise us, but I haven't seen him yet."
Assistant coach of the NBA champion Golden State Warriors, Nick U'Ren, added: "Israel is amazing. I've always wanted to come here. I want to thank Omri for bringing us here. It's a lot of fun to see another country in the world."