Israeli professional basketball player

Omri Moshe C*pi (Hebrew: עומרי משה כספי, born June 22, 1988) is an Israeli former professional basketball player. He mainly played at the small forward position, but could play also at the power forward position.

C*pi was drafted 23rd overall in the 2009 NBA draft by the Sacramento Kings, making him the first Israeli to be selected in the first round of an NBA draft. With his Kings debut in 2009, C*pi became the first Israeli to play in an NBA game. As a rookie, C*pi was chosen to participate in the NBA All-Star Weekend Rookie Challenge. The Cleveland Cavaliers traded for him in June 2011, and he signed with the Houston Rockets in July 2013. In July 2014, C*pi was traded to the New Orleans Pelicans as part of a three-team trade, but was later waived. He then returned to Sacramento prior to the 2014–15 season. In February 2017, he was traded to the Pelicans alongside DeMarcus Cousins, and signed with the Warriors during the offseason. Waived after an April injury, he signed with Memphis in July 2018.

Contents

• 1 Early life
• 2 Professional career
  • 2.1 Maccabi Tel Aviv (2005–2006)
  • 2.2 Hapoel Galil Elyon (2006–2007)
  • 2.3 Return to Maccabi Tel Aviv (2007–2009)
  • 2.4 Sacramento Kings (2009–2011)
  • 2.5 Cleveland Cavaliers (2011–2013)
  • 2.6 Houston Rockets (2013–2014)
  • 2.7 Return to the Kings (2014–2017)
  • 2.8 New Orleans Pelicans (2017)
  • 2.9 Minnesota Timberwolves (2017)
  • 2.10 Golden State Warriors (2017–2018)
  • 2.11 Memphis Grizzlies (2018–2019)
  • 2.12 Third stint with Maccabi Tel Aviv (2019–2021)
• 3 Career statistics
  • 3.1 NBA
    • 3.1.1 Regular season
  • 3.2 EuroLeague
• 4 National team career
• 5 Omri C*pi Foundation
• 6 Honors
• 7 See also
• 8 References
• 9 External links

Early life

One of the few Jewish players to reach the NBA after Dolph Schayes, Danny Schayes and Jordan Farmar and the first Israeli-born, Omri C*pi was born in Holon, Israel. He was raised in the city of Yavne, Israel. He is the son of Shimon and Ilana, and has an older brother, Eitan, and a younger sister, Aviv. Both of C*pi's parents are Israeli-born and of Moroccan-Jewish. As an adult, he added the middle name "Moshe" in memory of his grandfather.

As a child, C*pi played for junior programs at Elitzur Yavne and Maccabi Rishon LeZion. When he was 13, he moved to the Maccabi Tel Aviv youth team, winning the State Youth championship in 2005.

Professional career

Maccabi Tel Aviv (2005–2006)

Having previously played for Maccabi Tel Aviv youth team, C*pi made his professional debut at age 17 with Maccabi Tel Aviv during the 2005–06 season. In his rookie season as a professional player, he had averages of 4.2 points and 2.1 rebounds in 9.4 minutes per game in the Israeli Premier League.

Hapoel Galil Elyon (2006–2007)

In 2006, C*ipi was loaned to Hapoel Galil Elyon for the 2006–07 season, going on to have a breakthrough season behind him. He averaged 11.1 points and 3.1 rebounds over 28 games. In April 2007, he scored 14 points for the World Select team at the Nike Hoop Summit in Memphis.

Return to Maccabi Tel Aviv (2007–2009)

C*pi returned to Maccabi for the 2007–08 season. The team reached the EuroLeague Finals in 2008. C*pi received the 2008 Israeli League Sixth Man of the Year award, averaging 10.4 points and 4 rebounds per game. In February 2009, he finished in fourth place in voting for the FIBA Europe Young Men's Player of the Year Award for the 2008–09 season, behind Ricky Rubio, Danilo Gallinari and Kosta Koufos. Maccabi won a state championship in 2009. In the same season, C*pi's role in the team increased in the Israeli League, as well as in the EuroLeague. Over 27 league games, C*pi averaged 12.8 points, 4.8 rebounds and 1.8 *ists, all career-highs.

In 2008, C*pi declared himself eligible for the 2008 NBA draft, but he withdrew before the declaration deadline after failing to receive a first-round draft guarantee from any NBA club.

Sacramento Kings (2009–2011)

On June 25, 2009, C*pi was selected with the 23rd overall pick by the Sacramento Kings in the 2009 NBA draft, becoming the first Israeli player selected as a first-round draft pick. Not since Oded Kattash agreed to a contract with the New York Knicks in 1999 had an Israeli player come so close to playing in the NBA. On July 10, 2009, he signed a multi-year deal with the Kings.

On October 28, 2009, C*pi made his NBA debut for the Kings against the Oklahoma City Thunder, scoring 15 points. On December 16, 2009, C*pi made his first NBA start. Scoring 22 points against the Washington Wizards, he tied the most points scored by any Kings player in his first start since the team moved to Sacramento in 1985.

On January 1, 2010, C*pi scored a then career-high 23 points against the Los Angeles Lakers (along with 6 rebounds, 1 steal, and 3 *ists) as the Kings lost, 109–108. On January 2, 2010, he grabbed a career-high 11 rebounds against the Dallas Mavericks (along with 22 points, 1 steal, and 4 *ists) as the Kings lost, 99–91. On January 5, 2010, C*pi set a new career-high with 24 points against the Phoenix Suns (along with 7 rebounds, 1 *ist, no turnovers, and 10–19 from the field) as the Kings lost, 113–109.

In February 2010, C*pi was chosen to participate in the NBA All-Star Weekend Rookie Challenge, as well as the NBA All-Star Weekend H–O–R–S–E Compe*ion against Kevin Durant and Rajon Rondo.

In 2010–11, C*pi played in 71 games for Sacramento (starting 27 of them). He averaged 8.6 points, shot .412 shooting (including .372 from three-point range), and averaged 4.3 rebounds and 1.0 *ists in 24.1 minutes per game. In his two seasons for Sacramento, he averaged 9.5 points on .431 shooting, 4.4 rebounds, and 1.1 *ists in 24.6 minutes per game.

Cleveland Cavaliers (2011–2013)

On June 30, 2011, C*pi was traded, along with a 2012 first round draft pick, to the Cleveland Cavaliers in exchange for JJ Hickson.

Houston Rockets (2013–2014)

C*pi with the Rockets in October 2013

On July 16, 2013, C*pi signed a multi-year deal with the Houston Rockets. On November 1, 2013, for the first time Israelis on opposing NBA teams faced each other, as the Rockets played Gal Mekel and the Dallas Mavericks; the two were teammates on the Israelis Under 16, Under 18, and Under 20 teams, and on the Maccabi Tel Aviv junior team.

On July 15, 2014, C*pi was traded from the Rockets to the New Orleans Pelicans in a three-team trade that also involved the Washington Wizards. On July 23, 2014, he was waived by the Pelicans.

Return to the Kings (2014–2017)

On September 18, 2014, C*pi signed with the Sacramento Kings, returning for a second stint. On April 7, 2015, he scored a then career-high 31 points on 12-of-20 shooting in a 116-111 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves.

On July 14, 2015, C*pi re-signed with the Kings. On December 28, 2015, he scored a career-high 36 points in a loss to the Golden State Warriors. He also tied Mike Bibby's team record with nine three-pointers.

While shooting 44.8 percent from outside of the arc, he was being mentioned as a candidate for the All-Star Three-Point Contest.

New Orleans Pelicans (2017)

On February 20, 2017, C*pi and teammate DeMarcus Cousins were traded to the New Orleans Pelicans in exchange for Tyreke Evans, Buddy Hield, Langston Galloway, and 2017 first round and second round draft picks. In his only game for the Pelicans three days later, C*pi broke his right thumb after scoring 12 points in the 129–99 loss to the Houston Rockets. He was subsequently waived by the Pelicans on February 25 after being ruled out for four to six weeks.

Minnesota Timberwolves (2017)

On March 20, 2017, C*pi signed with the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Golden State Warriors (2017–2018)

On July 12, 2017, C*pi signed with the Golden State Warriors. On December 14, 2017, he posted his 17th career double-double with 17 points and a season-high 11 rebounds in a 112–97 win over the Dallas Mavericks. On February 12, 2018, C*pi posted a season-high 19 points and 10 rebounds in a 129–83 win over the Phoenix Suns. On April 7, 2018, C*pi, being injured, was waived by the Warriors to make room for Quinn Cook on their playoff roster. Coach Steve Kerr explained that “We love Omri and what he brought to the team...It was difficult to sit with him and tell him we were going to do this." Without C*pi, the Warriors went on to win the NBA championship in 2018. C*pi subsequently received a championship ring from the Warriors for his contribution during the 2017–18 season.

Memphis Grizzlies (2018–2019)

On July 11, 2018, C*pi signed with the Memphis Grizzlies. Entering the 2018–19 season, C*pi had yet to participate in the NBA playoffs, the NBA's longest active tenured player to have never played in a playoff game, ranking him number five overall in league history. On February 1, 2019, C*pi suffered from a meniscus tear in his right knee and surgery would be scheduled accordingly. On February 7, he was waived by the Grizzlies.

Third stint with Maccabi Tel Aviv (2019–2021)

On August 13, 2019, C*pi returned to Maccabi Tel Aviv for a second stint, signing a three-year deal after playing ten seasons in the NBA. On November 1, 2019, C*pi was named Israeli Player of the Month after averaging 11.3 points, 5.5 rebounds, 3.0 *ists and 1.8 steals in four games played in October.

On July 18, 2021, C*pi announced his retirement from basketball.

Career statistics

NBA

Regular season

EuroLeague

National team career

C*pi plays for the senior Israeli national team in international compe*ion, and he was the team's captain at the 2015 EuroBasket.

Omri C*pi Foundation

C*pi runs the Omri C*pi Foundation, which every year sponsors trips backed by the National Basketball Players *ociation, for NBA players, WNBA players, and other celebrities, to Israel. The goal of the foundation is reach populations and show to the world what Israel is really like. In 2015, those joining C*pi included DeMarcus Cousins, Caron Butler, Chandler Parsons, Iman Shumpert and Tyreke Evans. The 2016 delegation included Jeremy Piven, Shawn Marion, Amar'e Stoudemire, Beno Udrih, Rudy Gay, Donald Sloan, Chris Copeland, Georges St-Pierre, Alysha Clark, Mistie B* and Maria Ho.

Honors

On July 6, 2017, C*pi was one of seven athletes to have been honored with participation in the torch lighting ceremony of the 2017 Maccabiah Games.

See also

• Sport portal
• Biography portal
• Israel portal

• List of Jewish basketball players

References

External links

• Career statistics and player information from NBA.com:and:Basketball-Reference.com
• Omri C*pi at euroleague.net
• Omri C*pi on Twitter