Billboard image vandalized for third time

SACRAMENTO — The face of Israeli NBA basketball player Omri Casspi was vandalized on a Sacramento Kings billboard in the city’s downtown.

It was the third time Casspi’s image has been defaced on a team billboard.

The portion of the billboard with Casspi’s face painted on it was ripped off. The painter of the mural, Anthony Padilla, painted a message in the space offering a reward for information on the vandal.

Last September, two billboards with Casspi’s image were defaced with red-painted swastikas. No one was apprehended.

Casspi, a forward for the Kings, is the first Israeli player in the NBA.

He recently wrote in a column on the Israeli sports website ONE that he would like to be traded from the Kings, since he spent much of the past season on the bench. Playing about half the game, Casspi averaged 8.6 points and 4.3 rebounds this season.