Omri Casspi digested the devastating news inside the Sacramento Kings’ 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.
Such is life for the first Israeli-born player in NBA history. “It’s hard having my family so close to the border, in the line of fire, we call it,” Casspi told SI.com. “It’s really hard to focus.”
Casspi was born in the city of Holon, a suburb on the central coastal strip south of Tel Aviv. When he was 3, Casspi’s parents moved to a smaller city, Yavne, only 25 miles north of the Gaza Strip.
“Every time there’s stuff going on in Gaza, my family feels it because it’s right around the corner,” Casspi said.
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. “We just ran to one of the rooms and gathered until the bomb was over,” Casspi recalled.
Casspi’s 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’s side hails from Morocco. Today, Moroccan Jews comprise the second-largest Jewish community in Israel.
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 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.
“I always felt like the Bulls was the team of all of us,” Casspi said. Now, Casspi is the NBA player inspiring young children across Israel.