{"id":58915,"date":"2016-01-11T00:44:17","date_gmt":"2016-01-10T22:44:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.hoops.co.il\/?p=58915"},"modified":"2016-01-11T17:04:13","modified_gmt":"2016-01-11T15:04:13","slug":"%d7%9e%d7%90%d7%9e%d7%a8-%d7%a2%d7%9c-%d7%a2%d7%9e%d7%a8%d7%99-%d7%9b%d7%a1%d7%a4%d7%99-%d7%91-si","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hoops.co.il\/?p=58915","title":{"rendered":"\u05de\u05d0\u05de\u05e8 \u05e2\u05dc \u05e2\u05de\u05e8\u05d9 \u05db\u05e1\u05e4\u05d9 \u05d1-SI"},"content":{"rendered":"
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SI: Omri Casspi continues to inspire Israel as he represents his homeland in NBA<\/strong><\/h1>\n
Sports Illustrated<\/em> Inspirations: Stories of athletes making a difference<\/strong><\/a><\/div>\n
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by Jake Fischer<\/a><\/strong> <\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Posted: Fri Jan. 8, 2016<\/strong><\/span><\/div>\n
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On Friday, Nov. 6, a shooting at the Beit Anan junction, north of the West Bank city of Hebron, left a 19-year-old Israeli soldier critically wounded in the upper body. It was the fourth terror attack on Israelis in the West Bank that day.<\/p>\n

Omri Casspi<\/a> digested the devastating news inside the Sacramento Kings<\/a>\u2019 home locker room in Sleep Train Arena. He has the Red Alert application on his cell phone, which shrieks with every fired rocket, mortar or missile into Israel.<\/p>\n

Such is life for the first Israeli-born player in NBA history. \u201cIt\u2019s hard having my family so close to the border, in the line of fire, we call it,\u201d Casspi told SI.com. \u201cIt\u2019s really hard to focus.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Casspi was born in the city of Holon, a suburb on the central coastal strip south of Tel Aviv. When he was 3, Casspi\u2019s parents moved to a smaller city, Yavne, only 25 miles north of the Gaza Strip.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery time there\u2019s stuff going on in Gaza, my family feels it because it\u2019s right around the corner,\u201d Casspi said.<\/p>\n

The Casspi house was constructed in 1992, before modern Israeli standards began requiring all homes in the area to include a bomb shelter. The nearest communal shelter lies 100 meters from the Casspi house. \u201cWe just ran to one of the rooms and gathered until the bomb was over,\u201d Casspi recalled.<\/p>\n

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(Omri Casspi Q&A: Life as a Kings role player, DeMarcus Cousins and more<\/a><\/h3>\n<\/div>\n
by Rob Mahoney<\/a><\/strong> <\/span><\/p>\n
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\u200bCasspi\u2019s maternal great-grandparents escaped Poland during the early stages of the Holocaust. They landed in Spain where his grandmother was born. From there, they moved to Cyprus before ultimating arriving in Israel. His father\u2019s side hails from Morocco. Today, Moroccan Jews comprise the second-largest Jewish community in Israel.<\/p>\n

His older brother Eitan, now a youth coach for Rishon Etzion, introduced Casspi to basketball at the age of 10, as Michael Jordan and the 1997 Bulls<\/a> defended their fourth title. Chicago was the only NBA team broadcasted in Israel, launching a Jordan fan base half a world away from the Windy City.<\/p>\n

\u201cI always felt like the Bulls was the team of all of us,\u201d Casspi said. Now, Casspi is the NBA player inspiring young children across Israel.<\/p>\n

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He\u2019s used his global platform as a springboard to advocate for his country, an opportunity he wasn\u2019t afforded before reaching the NBA. During international flights with the Israeli National Team, Casspi and his countrymen are always instructed to hide their team apparel within their luggage due to safety concerns.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s sad to me, really,\u201d Casspi said. The team is accompanied by six armed security guards and local law enforcement escorts the team upon their arrival.<\/p>\n

During his four years with Maccabi Tel Aviv, Casspi faced anti-Semitism inside every road arena.\u00a0\u201cThat\u2019s just normal,\u201d Casspi said. \u201cIt\u2019s just part of Maccabi\u2019s way.\u201d<\/p>\n

Life in the NBA opened a door he never imagined. \u201cI feel like people want to know more,\u201d Casspi said. \u201cA lot of players in the Association are always asking, \u2018What\u2019s going on?\u2019 \u2018What do you think?\u2019 \u2018When\u2019s it going to end?\u2019 \u2018What\u2019s the solution?\u2019 \u2018How can you live like this?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2022 KAY: NBA players making voices heard as civil rights movement rises<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Casspi decided to show them, first hand, this summer, escorting fellow Kings players\u00a0DeMarcus Cousins and Caron Butler<\/a>, as well as former teammates Chandler Parsons<\/a>,\u00a0Tyreke Evans<\/a>,\u00a0Iman Shumpert<\/a>, Alan Anderson<\/a> and Roger Mason to Israel for one week. The second Israeli-born NBA player, former Dallas Maverick Gal Mekel<\/a>, also joined.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven though he got to leave and see the world, he still wants to give back and he wants to bring a lot of what he\u2019s learned and who he\u2019s met to where he\u2019s from,\u201d Shumpert\u00a0said.<\/p>\n

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College Basketball<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n
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Where are They Now: Former UConn star Doron Sheffer<\/a><\/h3>\n<\/div>\n
by Jon Wertheim<\/a><\/strong> <\/span><\/p>\n
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\u200bYaron Talpaz, Maccabi Tel Aviv\u2019s vice president of international operations, points out the significance of the trip: It meant more than basketball and more than politics.\u201cWe know that the politics will always get most of the headlines, but there are more sides of Israel to show,\u201d said Yaron Talpaz, Maccabi Tel Aviv\u2019s vice president of international operations.<\/p>\n

Talpaz recalls Sacramento\u2019s visit to Madison Square Garden in 2010 as the catalyst of Casspi\u2019s advocacy efforts. The rookie forward scored 18 points and grabbed nine rebounds in front of a raucous New York crowd during the\u00a0Knicks<\/a>\u2019\u00a0\u201cJewish Heritage Night.\u201d Talpaz watched live from Israel, broadcasting the game for The Sports Channel.<\/p>\n

\u201cHalf of MSG that night [were]\u00a0Casspi fans,\u201d Talpaz said. \u201cI think he understood the ability that he could do that after that crazy game.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u200bCasspi\u2019s group trip went viral this summer, most notably the hilarious photo<\/a> of DeMarcus Cousins<\/a> and Iman Shumpert flanking him, all three colossal human beings covered head to toe in mud from the Dead Sea. The group took a helicopter tour around Jerusalem. Each player approached the historic Western Wall and placed notes in its crevices as thousands descended upon the plaza to celebrate Shabbat that Friday evening.<\/p>\n

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\u201cEverything seemed … epic,\u201d Shumpert said. \u201cIt felt like it meant something to be standing in the spots we were standing in. \u201c<\/p>\n

The trip also included two basketball camps, hosting 150 Jewish, Arab and Druze\u00a0children in Tel Aviv and around 200 more in Jerusalem. \u201cI\u2019m in the unique position to show my best friends, it\u2019s the only country in all of the Middle East that you can be free religion. You can practice Islam, you can practice Christianity, you can be Jewish,\u201d Casspi said. \u201cWhich is remarkable in that region.\u201d The camps featured extensive drills with Shumpert teaching ball-handling, Cousins teaching post-up play and Parsons teaching jump shooting.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s very proud of where he comes from,\u201d Parsons said. \u201cHe served over there (in the Israel Defense Forces), his sister served, his dad served, his brother is still in [the reserves.]\u201d<\/p>\n

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Dragan Bender fuels Maccabi<\/a>\u00a0|<\/strong>\u00a0Tel Aviv players discuss David Blatt<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Casspi knows he\u2019s not a politician. \u201cWe need a miracle,\u201d is his solution to the never-ending war in his country<\/p>\n

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For know, he\u2019s focused on \u201cshedding a positive light\u201d on Israel while balancing the rigors of an NBA schedule across the Atlantic.<\/p>\n

This season, Casspi is scoring a career-high 12.8 points per game while ranking third in the league in three-point percentage. Only four players in the NBA this season are shooting 50% from the floor, 40% from three and hitting at least one triple per game: Stephen Curry<\/a>, Kevin Durant<\/a>, Kawhi Leonard<\/a>\u00a0and Omri Casspi.<\/p>\n

Casspi is the one player doing so with the weight of a nation on his shoulders.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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SI: Omri Casspi continues to inspire Israel as he represents his homeland in NBA Sports Illustrated Inspirations: Stories of athletes making a difference by Jake Fischer Posted: Fri Jan. 8, 2016 On Friday, Nov. 6, a shooting at the Beit Anan junction, north of the West Bank city of Hebron, left a 19-year-old Israeli soldier 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