At the age of 21 he is a national hero, on his way to the NBA. So yes, Omri Casspi may be living his dream, but nothing would make him happier now than a large plate of hummus.

Yohuy Eilam, Forex Crunch blog.

People are looking up to Omri Casspi. It’s not only because of his height, 6-foot-9. Casspi is the first Israeli basketball player to be selected in the first round of the NBA draft. He will most probably be the first Israeli player in the NBA, playing for the Sacramento Kings.

Casspi is now living his dream and enjoys life in California. At the young age of 21, he already became a national hero, even before playing his first game with the Kings.

Yet there is one important thing that the big man misses in his new home: Hummus.

The young 225 pound man said that there’s no Hummus in the US. When the Times reporter insisted that the chickpea spread can be found in grocery stores, Casspi dismissed it, and remained loyal to the original and fresh Hummus from his motherland:

“Man, I tried it; that’s all I can say,” he said last week during a break in the Kings’ summer league schedule. “I will bring some from Israel, maybe. I’ll let you taste it and you tell me.”

Middle Eastern hummus is quite different from the chickpea spread that’s available in the US. The American hummus might be adapted to the American taste, or it may have not evolved to the excellent taste of hummus that’s available in Israel and throughout the Middle East.

I guess it’s rather hard finding tasty hummus in a relatively small city such as Sacremento. Maybe Casspi will find good hummus in larger cities. When the season starts, Casspi will be traveling across the USA and Canada, and may be more lucky. What do you think?

With this statement, Casspi combined the national pride of reaching the NBA with the national dish. Maybe Omri Casspi will bring some good hummus with him on his long journey and put humus “on the map”.

Photo cc-by-aa 3.0: Yuval.