A nation holds its breath as 21-year-old Israeli forward Omri Casspi approaches his debut with the Kings

TEL AVIV, Israel – Omri Casspi knew better than everyone else, or certainly, before everyone else. At age 15 – before he went on a date or finished high school – he decided that he was the chosen one.

He would be the first. The first Israeli selected in the opening round of the NBA draft. The first to live among Kings and Lakers. The first to successfully represent this basketball-crazed country of approximately 7.5 million people, few of whom measure up to NBA standards.

Former Israeli stars Mickey Berkowitz, Doron Sheffer, Oded Kattash, Yotam Halperin and Lior Eliyahu all flirted with the notion of careers in the National Basketball Association, but for various reasons – timing, injury, attitude, aptitude – never made it to training camp.

Casspi will make it to camp. As a first-round selection of the Sacramento Kings and the 23rd pick overall, the 6-foot-9 small forward – all grown up now at 21 – has a guaranteed contract and a date for opening night.

"We have had other good players try for NBA, and all were nice guys," said Zvika Sherf, Casspi's former coach with the Israeli national team and Maccabi Tel Aviv. "Maybe too much. They didn't have the elbows. Omri, he has the elbows."

Frankly, in terms of basketball, Israelis are tired of being shoved aside. While soccer is the most popular sport, Israeli Premier League power Maccabi Tel Aviv is the nation's treasure, often mistaken for the national team. The fact that 60 nations have been represented in the NBA before Casspi even attempts his first dunk remains a chronic source of irritation.

"Think about it," said Eran Soroka, basketball writer for the newspaper Ma'ariv. "Iran, one of the countries that wants to eliminate us, has a player in the NBA (Hamed Haddadi, Memphis Grizzlies). Iceland has had a player in the NBA. Latvia, Italy, France, Russia, but no Israel? This is like an insult to us."

It's not as if NBA officials have failed to extend a hand, either. In an attempt to expand its global tentacles into the conflict-weary Middle East, the NBA for years has conducted clinics in Lebanon, Qatar, Bahrain, Iran, Iraq and Israel, frequently in conjunction with the U.S. State Department. Yet even a small exodus of Middle Easterners toward the NBA has failed to materialize; the game that has gone global continues to skip over the region.

Casspi's first-round selection is such an anomaly – such a national sensation – that champagne flowed throughout Tel Aviv long after the draft. On a video taped by an Israeli TV crew at his parents' home during the June 25 draft, Casspi's mother, Ilana, is seen pacing and cleaning while peeking at the screen. His father, Shimon, frowns and frets while standing a few feet away. Omri agonizes on the couch, thrusting his face into his hands, moaning in disappointment as other players are selected, their names and remarks scripted in Hebrew near the bottom of the screen.

Finally the Kings are on the clock. "Watch (NBA Commissioner) David Stern now," Casspi instructed, remote in hand, while replaying the video for the zillionth time. "When he calls my name he is smiling. He is Jewish, you know. See!"

Jubilant friends and relatives dive onto the couch, onto Casspi, who disappears inside the scrum. Drenched in champagne, he strips down to an undershirt and is showered again. Throughout the day, his image flashed across TV screens. His cell phone never stopped ringing; he heard from teammates and politicians and the individual that every young Israeli basketball player idolizes.

"When I heard David Stern say, 'At No. 23, Omri Casspi,' my body was shaking," related Berkowitz, the former Maccabi star and most beloved of all Israeli sports icons. "Just shaking."

Hoops battles with Mom

Tel Aviv is arresting at dusk, the modern and ancient, the commercial and the charming, colliding along the Mediterranean seafront promenade of hotels, shops and cafes. The Old Clock Tower in Jaffa, perched like a sentry on the hilly southern tip of the picturesque stretch, casts its light in a northerly direction, illuminating the activity below.