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Sacramento Kings have another Jewish player8:44 am Wednesday, July 14, 2010by andy altman-ohr 
Omri Casspi made a huge splash last year with the Sacramento Kings — as the first Israeli to play in the NBA. Well, now the Sacramento Kings have another Jewish player on their roster ... their summer-league roster, that is. Sylven Landesberg, a 6-foot-6 guard who played his college ball at the University of Virginia, is playing for the Kings' summer-league team in Las Vegas. The NBA Summer League runs from July 9 to July 18 and is for young players and rookies that teams want to assess. Landesberg, who averaged 17.3 points, 4.9 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game in the 2009-10 season at Virginia (not bad), wasn't one the 60 players selected in last month's NBA Draft — even though some "experts" thought he might be a late second-round pick. So the Kings signed him to their summer league team for a look-see — but it's unlikely he'll turn enough heads (or even get enough playing time) to earn a spot on the regular-season roster. Perhaps he'll earn an invitation to training camp in October, although he'll probably end up in the D-League (the NBA's development league) or looking for a spot on a team overseas.Landesberg, from Flushing, N.Y., is black and has a Jewish father. There is some speculation he could play for a pro team in Israel next season, but that's a question mark at this point. In this interview from SI.com, he talks about his Judaism, the possiblity of playing in Israel and playing in the Maccabi Games (click here). At Virginia, he was the ACC Freshman of the Year for the 2008-09 season, when he averaged 16.6 points, 6.0 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game. Last season blew up in his face, however. He was suspended from the team in March for "failure to live up to his academic obligations," the university announced in a statement. Apparently he started skipping classes, having decided to enter the NBA draft rather than come back for his junior season. Shortly after the suspension, he decided to leave school officially and enter the NBA Draft - as a sophomore with little college success and zero name recognition. After he went undrafted, the Kings scooped him up, and now they have an interesting one-two Jewish punch on their summer-league team: Casspi and Landesberg. For more on the Kings' summer league team, click here. Permalink Leave a comment Spread the Word E-mail a friend
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Omri, Casspi, Sacramento, Kings, Landesberg, Sylven, NBA summer league
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