Omri Casspi

At 36 years old, Omri Casspi has this physical status:

Omri Moshe Casspi (born June 22, 1988) is an Israeli professional basketball player for Maccabi Tel Aviv of the Israeli Premier League and EuroLeague.

He plays the small forward position, but can play also at the power forward position. Casspi was drafted 23rd overall in the 2009 NBA draft by the Sacramento Kings, making him the first Israeli to be selected in the first round of an NBA draft.

With his Kings debut in 2009, Casspi became the first Israeli to play in an NBA game.

As a rookie, Casspi was chosen to participate in the NBA All-Star Weekend Rookie Challenge.

The Cleveland Cavaliers traded for him in June 2011, and he signed with the Houston Rockets in July 2013.

In July 2014, Casspi was traded to the New Orleans Pelicans as part of a three-team trade, but was later waived.

He then returned to Sacramento prior to the 2014–15 season.

In February 2017, he was traded to the Pelicans alongside DeMarcus Cousins, and signed with the Warriors during the offseason.

Waived after an April injury, he signed with Memphis in July 2018.

Early life

One of the few Jewish players to reach the NBA after Dolph Schayes, Ernie Grunfeld, Danny Schayes and Jordan Farmar and the first Israeli-born, Omri Casspi was born in Holon, Israel. He was raised in the city of Yavne, Israel. He is the son of Shimon and Ilana, and has an older brother, Eitan, and a younger sister, Aviv. Both of Casspi's parents are Israeli-born and of Moroccan-Jewish descent. As an adult, he added the middle name "Moshe" in memory of his grandfather.

As a child, Casspi played for junior programs at Elitzur Yavne and Maccabi Rishon LeZion. When he was 13, he moved to the Maccabi Tel Aviv youth team, winning the State Youth championship in 2005.

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Professional career

Casspi made his professional debut with Maccabi Tel Aviv in 2005-06 season after playing for Maccabi Tel Aviv youth team. In his rookie season as a professional player, he had averages of 4.2 points and 2.1 rebounds in 9.4 minutes per game in the Israeli Premier League.

Casspi was loaned to Hapoel Galile Elyon in 2006, 2006–07, putting his career in jeopardy. Over 28 games, he averaged 11.1 points and 3.1 rebounds. He scored 14 points for the World Select team at the Nike Hoop Summit in Memphis in April 2007.

Casspi returned to Maccabi for the 2007–08 season. In 2008, the team qualified to the EuroLeague Finals. Casspi received the 2008 Israeli League Sixth Man of the Year award, averaging 10.4 points and 4 rebounds per game. He came in fourth place in the FIBA Young Men's Player of the Year Award for the 2008–09 season, behind Ricky Rubio, Danilo Gallinari, and Kosta Koufos. In 2009, Maccabi won the state championship. Casspi's presence in the Israeli League and also in the EuroLeague increased in the same season. Casspi averaged 12.8 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 1.8 assists in 27 league games, all career highs.

Casspi declared himself eligible for the 2008 NBA draft in 2008, but he pulled before the deadline after failing to receive a first-round draft guarantee from any NBA team.

Casspi was drafted by the Sacramento Kings in the 2009 NBA draft with the 23rd overall pick, making him the first Israeli player to be selected as a first-round draft pick. Not since Oded Kattash committed to a New York Knicks deal in 1999 did an Israeli player come so close to playing in the NBA. He agreed to a multi-year contract with the Kings on July 10, 2009.

Casspi made his NBA debut for the Kings against the Oklahoma City Thunder on October 28, 2009, scoring 15 points. Casspi made his first NBA appearance on December 16, 2009. In his first appearance since the team moved to Sacramento in 1985, Scoring 22 points against the Washington Wizards tied for the most points scored by any Kings player in his first start since the team moved to Sacramento.

As the Kings lost 109-108, Casspi recorded a career-high 23 points against the Los Angeles Lakers (along with 6 rebounds, 1 steal, and 3 assists). The Kings lost 99-91 on January 2, 2010, he had a career-high 11 rebounds against the Dallas Mavericks (along with 22 points, 1 steal, and 4 assists). Casspi recorded 24 points against the Phoenix Suns on January 5, 2010, (along with 7 rebounds, 1 assist, no turnover, and 10–19 from the field) as the Kings lost, 113-109.

Casspi was chosen to compete in the NBA All-Star Weekend Rookie Challenge in February 2010, as well as the NBA All-Star Weekend H–R–S–E Competition against Kevin Durant and Rajon Rondo.

Casspi played in 71 games for Sacramento in 2010-2011 (starting 27 of them). In 24.1 minutes per game, he averaged 8.6 points, shot.412 from three-point range, and averaged 4.3 rebounds and 1.0 assists. He averaged 9.5 points on.431 shooting, 4.4 rebounds, and 1.1 assists in 24.6 minutes per game in his two seasons with Sacramento.

Casspi was traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers on June 30, 2011, along with a 2012 first round draft pick, in exchange for JJ Hickson.

Casspi agreed to a multi-year contract with the Houston Rockets on July 16, 2013. The Rockets and the Dallas Mavericks met against each other on November 1, 2013 for the first time Israelis on opposing NBA teams met together; the two were teammates on the Israelis Under 16, Under 18, and Under 20 teams, as well as on the Maccabi Tel Aviv junior team.

Casspi was traded from the Rockets to the New Orleans Pelicans in a three-team trade that also involved the Washington Wizards on July 15, 2014. He was waived by the Pelicans on July 23, 2014.

Casspi signed with the Sacramento Kings on September 18, 2014, marking his second stint. In a 116-111 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves on April 7, 2015, he scored a then-high 31 points on 12-of-20 shooting.

Casspi re-signed with the Kings on July 14, 2015. In a loss to the Golden State Warriors on December 28, 2015, he scored a career-high 36 points. With nine three-pointers, Mike Bibby tied Mike Bibby's team record.

Although shooting 44.8 percent from outside the arc, he was being praised as a candidate for the All-Star Three-Point Contest.

Casspi and teammate DeMarcus Cousins were traded to the New Orleans Pelicans in exchange for Tyreke Evans, Buddy Hield, Langston Galloway, and the 2017 first round and second round draft picks. Casspi's right thumb was broken in his only game for the Pelicans three days later after scoring 12 points in the 129–99 loss to the Houston Rockets. After being sentenced out for four to six weeks, he was subsequently waived by the Pelicans on February 25.

Casspi signed with the Minnesota Timberwolves on March 20, 2017.

Casspi signed with the Golden State Warriors on July 12, 2017. In a 112-97 victory over the Dallas Mavericks, he recorded his 17th double-double in career with 17 points and a season-high 11 rebounds. In a 129-83 victory over the Phoenix Suns, Casspi posted a season-high 19 points and ten rebounds. Casspi, who was hospitalized, was activated by the Warriors on April 7, 2018, in order to make room for Quinn Cook on the Warriors' playoff roster. "We love Omri and what he did to the team, but we didn't want to sit down and tell him we were going to do this." Coach Steve Kerr said it. The Warriors went on to win the NBA championship in 2018. Without Casspi, the Warriors advanced to win the NBA championship in 2018. Casspi earned the Warriors' championship ring for his service during the 2017-18 season.

Casspi signed with the Memphis Grizzlies on July 11, 2018. Casspi had yet to participate in the NBA playoffs, the NBA's longest active player to never play in a playoff game, placing him fifth overall in league history. Casspi suffered from a meniscus tear in his right knee on February 1, 2019, and surgery will be scheduled accordingly. The Grizzlies had waived him on February 7th.

After playing ten seasons in the NBA, Casspi returned to Maccabi Tel Aviv for a second stint on August 13, 2019. Casspi was named Israeli Player of the Month on November 1, 2019, after averaging 11.3 points, 5.5 rebounds, 3.0 assists, and 1.8 steals in four games played in October.

Casspi's retirement from basketball began on July 18, 2021.

National team career

Casspi plays for the senior Israeli national team in international competition, and he was the team's captain at the 2015 EuroBasket.

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