Inside Israel Today: Behind the Scenes in the Omri Casspi Tragedy

three my caste then cascades never been better than nine threes you're listening to inside Israel today with your Hoffman on the Land of Israel Network hello and welcome to inside Israel today here on the land of Israel Network on the land of israel comm where we are going to be talking sports today we have been following all year the Golden State Warriors Golden State Warriors are not an Israeli team why would we be following them here on the land of Israel Network because of one man Omri Casspi the first Israeli in the NBA a proud Jew a mensch and all-around good guy who deserves all the best and we found out on Saturday night that he's being waived by the Warriors that he is not going to be playing with him in the playoffs and this is very sad and so I thought it's important to speak to a top Israeli sports journalist to talk about what happened behind the scenes that has led to this sports tragedy for Israel Thank You Iran Soroka from Nana s air channel 10 and the Nana website for coming here on the land of Israel network on the on inside Israel today good morning I do also this five count also sports five are you yeah I'm absolutely wonderful sport five carries NBA games here in Israel right yeah and I'm hosting and a weekly show and I know in broadcasting games there would like and do you know Omri Casspi personally I'm monitoring mobile development from his days in the Israeli youth leagues and high school leagues he's a great guy I know him and he's the efforts to go to make it to the NBA and then he's development there and talk to him a couple of times interviewed a couple of times I'm sure he's really disappointed even more than all of us and we are disappointed there were really high expectations with him going to the warriors finally being on a winning team after being on Sacramento and Cleveland right after LeBron left and here he had an opportunity to go to the playoffs and to be there in the in the middle of the glory and that's being taken away yeah well actually yeah it's worth mentioning that America is leading the NBA the entire NBA regular season game without any clear appearance he was going to the playoffs once and he made it the Euston rockets in 2014 but then Kevin McHale decided to cut the rotation and the left team in another good player they're not as much to you enough out and they didn't play a single second of this playoffs and they got knocked out in the first round so maybe it's also I think McHale is regretting now but when he joined the the world a lot of people a lot of eyebrows were raised in Israel people saying what can emerge happy a contribute to a mighty warriors to one of the best teams of all time but from the moment he signed there I thought it is a blessing and a possible curse because if you're not performing well in the Golden State Warriors you will be sidelined you will be go relegate to the bench in tui relevancy you can't be mediocre you can't be like less than great when you're playing for the Golden State Warriors and for the most part of the season Kathy didn't meet the expectations and even M above them because when he got the chance and he played great he played with a lot of energy a lot of rebounding a lot of passion a changing game a little bit and this is what in the aftermath maybe became part of his undoing because for the most part of his career he was shooting threes and spacing the floor and when he make it many to the Golden State Warriors it appears on the surface that they have enough sleep on shooting and so he can cut more to the basket and like take the attention away from the super thousand they get great passes and score on a high percentage then suddenly they decided that he's not shooting enough trees and this was part of the problem with him the one amazed that the most amazing things that is that on the 2015/16 on two visits to the Oracle when he was playing with the Sacramento Kings he he had 12 three-pointers made in the entire silver Golden State Warriors he had ten he shouted and a great percentage in shot it with great percentage like 45% from deep great but he didn't shoot enough sandy was summery always kind of psychological also because when he's losing confidence he's more hesitant to shoot and when he's playing near Kevin Durant in klay Thompson and Steph Curry even with fewer Omri Casspi and you have a open shot you rather pass it to you're one of whole famer teammates because there are Hall of Famers and you're not and he's a humble guy and you know this place in the rotation and you know that he has to be a key player and without being a team player wasn't going to sign with the warrior it was the world anyway but when he did play it's like good and Steve Kerr loved him a lot I heard Steve Kerr talking about him some tile OTT of times and then he was named heard with the Israelis energy and a being a great teammate and in the coach in his interviews last night he said that he was it was really hard to tell him it wasn't fun to tell him that that he had lost his job but what I don't understand there on is why couldn't he just be on the sidelines during the playoffs why did they have to cut him because from this season most of the season NBA teams could carry 16 players to the players and this season each team got two more spots for the regular season that they could sign players to something new come to a contract it means that they are planning for the cheering the Developmental League of the NBA for most of this and then you can join the regular NBA team even if sometimes it's not from like your affiliate NBA team and get a new contract and what happened with the Warriors with that that's carry that by the way played less games then Omri Casspi yes really well really 61 he got injured a lot after a few years of stability injury why health-wise he got injured a lot and then March 23rd if I remember it right he was waiting for rebound when a teammate Felony's me and sprained use me so when he got hurt another point guard was needed by the world and the guy called Quinn cook that was like a journeyman and player that never made any impact at the NBA that carries a place on the starting lineup and started being in mazing zone he scored like a maniac scored like 20-25 again with very high percentage from deep and what happened that Quinn cook that wasn't on a regular contact had to be on a regular contract and so to have him on the roster the world had to cut off their existing 15 contract why couldn't they cut Patrick McCarthy injured yeah kind of first of all me was also injured if Tommy was able to return like one week ago two weeks ago and get trying time and shoot threes and be good and be relevant maybe the decision by the world were other I think that the fact that they waited almost to the last day of the decision who to cut means that they had a dilemma the otherwise they could wave happy like one week or two weeks before Patrick McCall is going to be restricted free agent which means that if if the world wants to retaining next season they could do it more easily than because because got me eating unrestricted free agency he can go whatever whenever you want so possibly if they were going to cut McCall and stay with FB it's possible that they could lose both now they have ability to control Patrick Makau next contract which any I I don't think that his impact in their world in upcoming playoffs would be so great because for example he is injured for the last for the next three or four weeks but we can remember that on last week's last year's playoffs and even in the finals he gave good minutes against Cleveland against San Antonio ok I took Macau even though he's younger than caste much younger than Kaffee he already have the experience the tough experience with the Warriors and he gave with me they gave them good minister do you know what he's able to do in the playoffs and maybe that also was the part of the factor and they wanted to cut somebody and they had like four or five guys that were was able that they were able to cut but then they decided they want to have all their beaks including Damian Jones which was not contributing but he gave great numbers on the G League team so they wanted to have everybody because of the salary cap structure and problems they wanted to have as many possible healthy players and players under contract and so caste under his own circumstances was the only rational decision that he could make so what is he going to do now well where do you see Omri Casspi heading would he go back to Israel or is he gonna find an NBA team will he try to find an NBA team that'll play him or will he try to go back to Golden State what do you think I think that Peter Bowman state will offer him a new contract similar to the one he had there this year he will consider it and because he minimum contract it was worse you could earn a lot more another way with playing for Phoenix for instance where he played wonderful against yeah for pinnacle from Brooklyn but going to Phoenix or Brooklyn doesn't change your outlook for the career doesn't make you relevant for example I wrote it in a column yesterday two days ago theoretically he could go to Brooklyn like Aaron five or six or seven or four million dollars this year average 20 and not appear like 12 and 6 or 13 and 7 but nobody would talk about it because he was playing for the lowly Brooklyn Nets which is the team with the eighth or ninth worst record in the NBA and even if he was helping them winning and you know playing near the great Jewish community in Brooklyn that wasn't helping his case is like irrelevant and be a player and from Brooklyn you know if you're going to be a free agent after being taught from Golden State and if you're going to be free agent after finishing a Stephen contract in Brooklyn these are different situations when you play for the Gothic world you can take it on he played for the Golden State whether he was a good fit I think he he made a better name for himself being the feet on the good team on a great team and a championship team and then playing more and earning more somewhere else especially in lottery team for the upcoming summer world first was the option is she's going to like price himself and as a minimum a minimum contract guy and he will probably settle on this he can find place for the multiple good great teams I can see teams like Utah which is playing very organized that it was very team basketball I mean he may be San Antonio which is monitor him what is monitoring team like from he was in his mother's uterus I think they know him for like 24 for a 15 or 14 years because they're monitoring like every international player in the world I can rename and see him going back Marcus Cousins next year yeah but nobody knows was the rock was coming to play because he is going to be free as well and maybe going deep into the Lakers he will search I think he will search a team that he's playing team basketball with a coach that can relate to him that he can he can form a good relationship with because he already had some bad relationships with coaches like Byron Scott like um what is in Dave Jagger that they took the reigns in Sacramento he one alone was the culture yeah a coach it like them in front of it that maybe they liked him in the role you need the role and the NBA because of the kind of the market that you to win this summer the many teams don't have money to sign new players and so so if Cosby is going to be on a minimum deal I think she will have at least four or five good options that you have to choose from maybe he will wait a little bit to test the market to see where the big supercells on his positions are going and then of course going to someplace else but they think that his two priorities are playing for a team that is going to make the playoffs er a twist and fight for a playoff spot and for a team that is playing team basketball with a coach that he can fill the industry the answer that hombre by the way himself gave to Aileen Voisin of the Sacramento Bee was no I want to stay in the NBA I learned so much this year with the Warriors that's what makes this so hard it's an amazing organization Steve Kerr the way he handles things the good times the adversity is really impressive he told me that he loves what I bring to and I could tell it was hard for him to tell me when we met with the GM Steve kept looking down I told him I love you guys I understand I just feel if I could have ever gotten healthy I'd be on the playoff roster but what are you going to do this is a hard business sometimes you can almost tell he was crying when he said that yeah after you going to Golden State I think that you don't want to leave the NBA ever it's like I never been the that I from what I heard from what I read from what a year listen to a podcast with a guy 15 this is an outstanding organization not only sports organization but a human organization a workplace that is stole appreciative of good people and it gives you so much room to grow so much shape so many opportunities to speak and to relevant and to express yourself that it is really hard for me to believe that he will go some place else from the NBA and sure he will search for a good clubhouse the good the good club maybe the workers question yeah would be a there were reports yesterday that the Israeli government wanted to have Omri Casspi light a torch on yomet smote on Israel's independence day during the main ceremony and Mount Herzl with other people who brought a lot of pride to Israel but the Warriors said he can't go because it's right around the time of the playoffs and this is seen as a double tragedy because now he doesn't have a team he can be in Israel and he can't light a torch but yesterday the president of Honduras canceled so is there anything we can do to get him that torch about the torches ceremony I'm not sure this is such a prize like towards the last aside I mean he's deserving to and like to search because he made Israelis pride and these Golden State's we're agreeing to let him go to the torches it's very very difficult because you can't get a letter player go to Israel to the other side of the world for a week during the club so imagine yourself what would happen if Golden State was in a king and religion game and then for example getting him back and he was in jetlag and he wasn't contributing enough and he was missing crucial a three-pointer in a crucial game and then oh god it's because of this ceremony in Israel they couldn't grant him a go because also they were waiting for the last moment for example theoretically if I'm loony he's killing his ACL in like April 6 or April 5 on the casting with if you declare processor healthy or not those they needed every health player and they needed to wait and kill grass moment army will get in porch I'm not work for him and there he will continue to make it really cry right and you don't need to write porch to be a national hero to be a national symbol for Israel and or McAfee is legitimately won already absolutely well Iran stroke a veteran Israeli sports journalist and sport 5 channel 10 and the Nana website and someone who has been following up Omri Casspi for a very long time and knows him personally thank you for coming here on inside Israel today on the Land of Israel Network thank you have a great day you two five nine after the break we're gonna continue talking about the tragedy of Omri Casspi stay with us this is Eve Harrow for the land of his home network you can start every week with me hearing views and interviews with fascinating people some well-known others homegrown about places i guide ideas i have to get you thinking - it's about the land it's about my people it's about our collective journey rejuvenation with eve Harrow sundays on the land of israel network listen in share the ride [Music] and we're back here on the land of visual network on the land of israel calm where we are talking about one of the most special israelis who make israelis look good and all around the world I'm talking to you on a day where people are talking here about IDF soldiers and saying not such nice words when they're on the battlefront and that video being spread on the Internet and at a time when our politicians are bickering and embarrassing us a little bit to the point that the president of Honduras isn't coming here anymore when he was going to be lighting a torch on Israel's independence day because he was trained by the Israeli Foreign Ministry as it trains people in in developing countries all around the world and here we have an Israeli and Omri Casspi who has done nothing but bring us pride and joy since he entered the NBA he didn't have to do that he could have just focused on sports but he chose to be an ambassador for Israel he chose to bring the top players in the NBA to Israel on trips in order to show them that we're right in the arab-israeli conflict in order to show them this is a beautiful country in order to show them that we are the light unto the nations that the prophets said we would be and you know Kiamichi aunty Sato ah we say that the Torah comes out of Zion and that Torah usually comes in the form of something more Jewish than basketball but Torah is a way of life Torah is instructions for living that that's what it means and here we have a a basketball player someone you know not doing something seen as the most holy who is using that pulpit that he gets as an NBA player to spread the gospel to spread the good news about Israel about the Jewish state and who we are he is close with the Jewish community wherever he is played especially in Sacramento where he played for a while he has been involved in fundraising for Israel in Jewish Federations he has been very involved in the Habad movement wherever he is played he has made a point of openly adopting Jewish practices of praying every day with fillin on his arm and on his head and perhaps that helped him be even a better player but on the court he has been such a team player as Iran had said he knew how to pass to the stars when he was with him either one of the reasons why he didn't build it up his own statistics is why take a shot when you can pass the ball to a hall-of-famer and that's exactly the kind of player that a great team with four potential Hall of Famers leg the Golden State Warriors needed and it's not just me saying it here's the coach Steve Kerr speaking about how awful he felt having to tell Omri that he wouldn't be with the team for the playoffs but it was difficult to to go ahead and go through with it because you know he's been with us all season long we love hombre and what he brought to the team great teammate it was difficult to sit with him and tell him we were gonna do this but it was it is the only decision we could make under the circumstances and we have to have Quinn from playoffs and we couldn't could release anybody else everybody else is healthy and playing and or under you know under contract or team control for next year in Patrick's case so this was the decision that we had to come to it wasn't fun but the main thing is at home Ray's just a pro and a great teammate and he handled everything beautifully last night and it felt awful but you know you have to do what you have to do when he was healthy we show you it's a great cutter you know he's a wonderful fit in our system that's why we recruiting him you know what he was right and he got to start some games when we had some injuries he had some really good games for us so he is just a victim of circumstance morning did you guys decide to do it yesterday because you guys are pending on the row and he's injured and just that while we wanted to wait see what happened last night you know we were aware that there could still be other injury issues that might have changed the decision so we wanted to wait as long as we could but we also didn't want to bring them on the road and and go through a game or two where it's like this doesn't feel right either there is no right answer on this you just want to do it as respectfully as you can and it felt like last night was proper time for that was Steve Kerr this the coach of perhaps the best team in the NBA ever that did not have Michael Jordan he played of course with Michael Jordan on one of the best Chicago Bulls teams which are still the best teams to ever play in the NBA but you could hear the pain in the voice of Steve Kerr about how he so wanted overi to be there in the playoffs with the Golden State Warriors not only because he's a player who could contribute so much but also because of the kind of human being that he is and so I don't know if he's going to get a lot to light a torch in the ceremony that we have here an independence day but he will continue to light a torch for Israel as his career continues to progress in the NBA that torch that he lights constantly for Israel is that light he is part of that light being part of the light unto the nations that the people of Israel are and and so that's why I thought it was so important to devote my show to the great Omri Casspi today people on the land of Israel Network might focus on more of the Nitty Gritty that the the Torah and the commandments I'm focusing here on the rebounds and the points and the assists that Omri Casspi has given to the State of Israel so here's my salute to you Omri Casspi I hope that you next year will be on a playoff team playing an important role and continuing to make the people of Israel proud and so ladies and gentlemen we've got yo Matsumoto Israel's Independence Day coming up next week fly your Israeli flags with pride whether you're in Israel whether you're in America whether you're somewhere around the world I myself will be this coming weekend speaking in Long Island on Atlantic Beach as part of a 74 70 among the top speakers from Israel being brought to the United States 70 speakers to speak at 70 synagogues in America beautiful program of the religious Zionists of America and the world Mizrachi and I'm very appreciative to them for that so thank you for being a part of our show and a part of yo MOT Smoot and all the celebrations for Israel here on inside Israel today on the Land of Israel network on the Land of Israel com thank you for being with us and thank God for Israel