“During the first week I wasn’t playing well and I’m aware of that. I am my own worst critic,” Omri Casspi explains during the conversation with him. Casspi arrived in Toronto this week and during the visit gave Shalom Toronto his first personal interview since moving to Cleveland. The Toronto Raptors marketed the evening as “The Evening of Jewish Heritage”, and thus the ACC was filled with thousands of members from the Jewish and Israeli communities in Toronto.
Photo by: Vidal Keslassy
Shortly after the game, Casspi met with members of the community and after finding out that due to a misunderstanding some of the fans missed him, he returned to the parquet for more photos with all those who had not succeeded in meeting him earlier.
“It’s part of the job,” he reveals. “Overall I am received with love almost anywhere and it warms my heart. I have good memories of previous visits to certain cities and Toronto is one of them.”
Casspi, who has been criticized over his abilities this season, is not avoiding responsibility and during the game in Toronto scored ten points and showed an improved ability. “Like I said, I’m hard on myself, but all the while I keep hoping things click a little better from one game to another. I picked up the pace during the game against the Raptors. I know that defensively I kind of leapfrogged in the past three years, and my offensive ability will come back. I’m not worried.”
The first Israeli in the NBA recalls the difficult summer he had. “I went through two irritating injuries in my knee, at critical moments during the past few months, and people forget that. The first time was before the trip with the team to the European championships and the second time was just before we resumed training. But I’m not giving up; I’m working hard and always trying to find ways to improve. All in all, it’s not simple to be an NBA player and certainly not an NBA player from Israel, but I remain constantly alert and ready to contribute.”
About his new team he says, “Cleveland is a young team with some veteran players which thinks about the long term. There are two high draft choices here such as Kyrie Irving and Tristan Thompson and an interesting project is being built, with a lot talent and ability, so I, too, have more options than I did before. We’ve already seen an improvement over last season and not many people expected us to have the balance we have now.”
The long strike in the NBA almost brought Casspi back to the team in which he grew up, but in the end he returned to Cleveland.
Photo by: Vidal Keslassy
“I signed with Maccabi Tel Aviv in the summer and I was supposed to start playing there at the beginning of January. I really wanted to go back and I was looking forward to it,” he reveals. “I wouldn’t have been sorry if it happened, but then the strike was over and I went back to the NBA and that’s fine, of course. I have no complaints.”
After two lonely years in Sacramento, Casspi now plays in Cleveland alongside his good friend Anthony Parker, another player who is a special favourite of the Israeli community. “I have very good chemistry with Anthony and I enjoy being with him on the field,” says Casspi. “We’ve known each other since Maccabi and that makes things easier.”
Parker, who spent several wonderful years in Toronto, used the time in the city to dine at a local restaurant together with the family of Jose Calderon, his former fellow team member. Casspi, in the meantime, hopes not to disappoint the many fans who are already preparing his next visit to Toronto. “When will I be here again? Erev Pesach?” He asks one Israeli fan. “I hope to have a little more time to spend in town,” he concludes. We hope so as well.
