Talk About the Passion: An Interview with Omri Casspi

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“I love the game of basketball. I’m one of those guys that would play basketball no matter what.” And so began my conversation with Omri Casspi. He was enthusiastic.

Omri Casspi plays with passion. And he loves to win. “I’ll play hard every time I get on the floor, I’ll play as hard as I can; I play with all my heart,” he continued.

Some have wondered if his passion is just a masked recklessness. Did he think his exuberance was actually carelessness?

“No, not at all. I don’t think so. I’ve improved my game. I get excited to play. I love to play.” This was a familiar refrain, and it didn’t come off as scripted spiel. I believed him. It only took me a minute to determine that he plays with the right passions. There is an innocence to his zeal.

It was no surprise, then, that Casspi named Rudy Fernandez and Manu Ginobili as the two players with whom he most identified, qualifying his answer in this way: “I really like Manu Ginobili. He’s a guy that plays with passion. Lots of energy. He’s a winner. He likes to win games.”

Omri Casspi is only 20. Last year he played for Maccabi Tel Aviv against a level of competition that is superior to the NCAA. He began in the Euroleague in 2005, giving him an early taste of high level professional basketball. He recognizes that his experience is “totally different” from most, if not all, of the NCAA players in this draft. Casspi hopes he can parlay his Euroleague experience into an accelerated transition into the NBA.

Casspi hasn’t worked out for the Spurs. He’s not sure if he will. In the coming weeks, he’s slated to work out for Minnesota, Golden State, Portland, Sacramento, and, curiously, New Jersey. In other words, picks #11, 24, 28, 31 and 32. The 37th pick, which once belonged to Golden State, is now the property of San Antonio. It’s hard to see Casspi falling that far in the draft, especially after some of the early entries pull their names. Some consider the question of whether or not Casspi will slide to 37 a moot discussion, however.

The word on the street says that Omri Casspi will not remain in the draft unless he gets a first round promise. I asked him straightforwardly if this was true. His answer, followed by a pregnant pause, resonated with what was stated only a few minutes earlier. “I’d rather go in the first round, but more importantly I’d rather go some place that was a good fit for me, a place where the team could utilize my skills,” he said with confidence. “First round, second round, I don’t know. But my goal is to be a first round pick.”

I pressed the point. Casspi could get a bigger contract from a European club, and he could land a bigger contract sooner with a second round deal. I framed the conversation in those terms and re-issued the question: Would he still rather be a first round pick?

“To tell you the truth,” he responded, “before I came to the NBA my agent told me I could get a 3 or 4 year multi-million dollar deal in Europe, but playing in the NBA is my dream. I don’t worry so much about money. I only want to go to a place where I can play and prove myself. That’s it.”

The Spurs have scouted Casspi heavily for a couple years, and I asked him what he made of their consistent presence at his games. “San Antonio would be a great place to play. They’re like a family. They treat everyone like family. They’re popular in Israel. Hopefully, I could find myself playing there. They have a good system, and I fit the system.” At this point, Casspi revealed that he has an interview with the team later tonight. “I hope it goes well,” he said. “But it’s difficult too. They don’t have a pick until 37. You know, someone else might take me at 35. Who knows.”

“Like what happened with Nicolas Batum last year?”, I wondered aloud.

“Of course, of course. It’s a big risk,” Casspi conceded.

But “more than anything,” Casspi says he just wants to go to the team that is a good fit for him as a player and as a person. “It’s amazing to me. I want to be the first Israeli player in the NBA. It’s a dream to me. That’s why I’m here.”