So he sobbed with joy when David Stern called his name Thursday? Not a problem. Here in America, we like strong, sensitive men, those combo players who show some passion while snagging a rebound or taking a charge.

What else can Omri Casspi do? He can run. We know that.

He plays both forward positions.

He is long and wiry, 6-foot-9 and 220 pounds, and he must be as tough as his reputation suggests, because the second of the Kings' two first-round draft choices (No. 23) is carrying an entire nation along for the ride.

Forget the champagne and night-long celebration. Israeli President Shimon Peres called to offer congratulations.

"I wouldn't say I feel pressure, though," said Casspi, 21, shortly after arriving with his mother, Ilana, from Tel Aviv. "Everybody is just trying to encourage me."

Casspi, who will become the third Kings rookie to represent a country in the NBA for the first time – Tariq Abdul-Wahad (France) and Hedo Turkoglu (Turkey) are the others – emerged as a significant talent in his early teens. He joined the junior team for perennial power Maccabi Tel Aviv at age 13, and because he was too young to drive, the club paid the round-trip taxi fare to the gym.

"It was very expensive," Casspi acknowledged, laughing, "but basketball is very important in my country. We have always wanted someone to play in the NBA, and it has never happened."

The influx of international stars that began two decades ago, in fact, seems to have skipped right over Israel, a country that loves its basketball. Last season's NBA rosters featured 75 players from 32 countries, among them Poland, Cameroon, Latvia and New Zealand.

Former Israeli stars such as Doron Sheffer, Oded Katash, Lior Eliyahu and Yotam Halperin either failed to make rosters or signed deals overseas. Cal's Amit Tamir had the skills but lacked the quickness. And the country's basketball icon, Mickey Berkowitz, who played at UNLV for a season before enjoying a prolific career with Maccabi Tel Aviv, considered testing the NBA in the 1980s but was unable to get out of his contract.

For what the Kings are attempting to do, which is basically upgrade the talent while removing their softer-than-tissue stigma, Casspi is a potentially nice fit. Even standing in the lobby of a downtown hotel, dressed in jeans, T-shirt and sneakers, with a pair of black-rimmed glasses matching his day-old facial stubble, he conveys a sense of lean strength and physicality.

His commitment to fitness traces back to his time in the military, he says. (Service is compulsory in Israel for young men and women.) "Going through basic training, when you're 18 and you have to do it," Casspi said, "it makes you really think about what you want to do with your life. This is what I want to do."

He recalled watching the NBA draft Friday morning with "about 100" of his closest friends. He saw the Kings select Tyreke Evans with the No. 4 pick and followed the Ricky Rubio drama, becoming increasingly anxious as the draft progressed.

Then, at exactly 4:44 a.m., he heard his name.

The champagne was poured. The president called. He cried.

"On the flight (to San Francisco, connection in Frankfurt), we finally had some time to sleep and realize what happened," said Casspi, who later attended a Kings public meet-and-greet with fellow draftees Evans and Jon Brockman at Marshall Park. "I know a lot more about the Kings now. The city is great. The fans are amazing. The team … last year they struggled a little bit. I'll just do what I can to help. I don't want to rush it, but I want to be regarded as one of the best players in the game."

Call The Bee's Ailene Voisin, (916) 321-1208.