After it became clear that John DiBartolomeo would be absent for about six months, the injury-plagued Maccabi Tel Aviv basketball team announced on Sunday that Omri Casspi, the first Israeli to play in North America's National Basketball Association, will serve as the team captain.
In games in which Casspi does not play, Jake Cohen will serve as the team leader, which could be immediately as Casspi is suffering from knee pain and will be out at least two weeks and then undergo an MRI to examine his return to the court. Maccabi also lost Nate Wolters last week for about six weeks. A decision on replacing him and DiBartolomeo is expected soon.